Earlier this month, Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeal ruled there had not been a proper investigation into a violent homophobic attack two years ago against a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists.
The court ordered a re-investigation, giving Armenia’s law enforcement agencies a second chance to deliver justice in the case.
In August 2018, a crowd of about 30 men violently assaulted the activists in Shurnoukh, a village in southern Armenia. The crowd shouted homophobic slurs and threats, demanding the activists leave the village. They chased members of the group, hitting, kicking, and throwing stones at them, and shouting “Get rid of those gays!” At least six activists were injured, including one person who sustained a broken nose.
Police questioned several of the attackers. But by November 2018, the government had granted some of the assailants amnesty, and the authorities decided not to prosecute the rest.
The LGBT rights group PINK Armenia challenged the decision not to prosecute the assailants, first in a district court, which found no violation, and then to the Criminal Court of Appeals, which found that the decision was not substantiated. The court also stated that the investigation failed to address the severe psychological pain suffered by the victims.
For years, the Armenian government has failed to effectively investigate anti-LGBT violence in the country, and homophobia remains widespread. A government bill in the works that seeks to address issues of equality has faced criticism because it does not include sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for protection from discrimination.
The court’s decision offers authorities the opportunity to provide justice for victims of anti-LGBT violence. Even two years later, holding perpetrators accountable for this attack would send a strong message that violence against LGBT people in Armenia will not be tolerated. It would be a step in the right direction in the fight against homophobia in the country.
Maltese police are investigating the shocking murder of a gay couple shot dead in their own home when three gunmen stormed in and raided the property.
Ivor Maciejowski, a British art dealer, and Christian Pandolfino, a Maltese doctor, were described by friends as two “beautiful souls” who were “always together”.
Police were called to their Sliema home at around 10.30pm on 18 August following reports of gunfire. Both men were found dead with multiple gunshot wounds, Maciejowski on the top floor of the property and Pandolfino on the lower floor.
Officers are now hunting three gunmen who were seen on CCTV entering the house at 10.19pm and leaving at 10.23pm. They are said to have been driven away from the scene by a fourth person who waited in a white car nearby.
Police have not yet disclosed a motive for the crime, but the LGBT+ group Malta Pride suggested that it could have been a “botched hold up”.
“Tragic is an understatement,” they said in a statement on Facebook. “Although details of the case are still emerging, it seems that this was a botched hold up and not necessarily related to being a homophobic hate crime.
“It would be sensible to wait and see at this point without making any rash conclusions.”
The couple were known to keep a large amount of fine art in their home, which Maciejowski sometimes posted to his Instagram account. Officers say there are signs of a struggle inside the property but have not revealed whether any valuables were taken.
According to the Times of Malta the gay couple had been together for at least four years, enjoyed working out and were regulars at MedAsia Playa beach club in Sliema.
Tributes are pouring in for the gay couple as their loved ones process their shocking and sudden deaths. Jordan Munn, who has known the couple for years, said friends were stunned by the news.
“They were just really, really great people. Selfless and funny and just friendly and fantastic and fabulous in every way,” he said.
Another friend, Rebecca Dimech, described the couple as “beautiful, kind souls” and “amazing people that loved each other very much”.
Pandolfino’s nephew, Luca Pandolfino, said his family had lost two “gentle giants”.
“We all are still trying to make sense of things during these tragic times,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Yesterday the world lost two gentle giants who were the two nicest people you could ever meet, keep your loved ones close because you never know when they could be taken away from you. Rest in peace uncle Chris and Ivor.”
JK Rowling refuted allegations that she is transphobic while returning a Ripple of Hope award to the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organisation.
Rowling announced she is giving back the honour after Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late senator and president of the human rights nonprofit, shared her “profound disappointment” in the author’s remarks on trans rights.
Kerry Kennedy released a statement on August 3, eight months after Rowling received the award for her work on behalf of children. She joined previous honourees including Barack Obama, Desmond Tutu and Hillary Clinton.
“I have spoken with JK Rowling to express my profound disappointment that she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and non-binary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community,” she wrote, citing Rowling’s tweets and essay on trans lives, as well her liking a tweet “that opposed a bill to ban conversion therapy”.
Kennedy rejected what she understands Rowling’s position to be: that sex as assigned at birth “is the primary and determinative factor of one’s gender, regardless of one’s gender identity”.
“The science is clear and conclusive: Sex is not binary,” she continued.
“Trans rights are human rights. JK Rowling’s attacks upon the transgender community are inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs and values of RFK Human Rights and represent a repudiation of my father’s vision.”ADVERTISING
JK Rowling can’t keep Robert Kennedy award in good conscience.
In response, Rowling wrote Thursday (August 27): “The statement incorrectly implied that I was transphobic, and that I am responsible for harm to trans people.
“As a longstanding donor to LGBT charities and a supporter of trans people’s right to live free of persecution, I absolutely refute the accusation that I hate trans people or wish them ill, or that standing up for the rights of women is wrong, discriminatory, or incites harm or violence to the trans community.”
She continued by repeating her claim that she “feels nothing but sympathy towards those with gender dysphoria”, and her baseless allegation that “an ethical and medical scandal is brewing” regarding gender-affirming therapies.
Rowling ended her statement by disagreeing with the Kennedy organisation’s stance on trans rights: that they do not clash with women’s rights.
“The thousands of women who’ve got in touch with me disagree, and, like me, believe this clash of rights can only be resolved if more nuance is permitted in the debate.”
She concluded: “I am deeply saddened that RFKHR has felt compelled to adopt this stance, but no award or honour, no matter my admiration for the person for whom it was named, means so much to me that I would forfeit the right to follow the dictates of my own conscience.”
Hundreds of Black trans people lost to violence have been honoured in a powerful street mural painted by local artists in Chicago.
The words ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ stretch across the street in Catalpa Avenue, Andersonville. It was created by 22 artists or art groups, with the help of neighbours who donated $4,000 to pay the artists for their time and materials.
Last weekend the whole community came together to add names and portraits to the artwork, giving faces to those who have died.
“It is vital that when folks see that Black Trans Lives Matter [mural] they understand the context of why it matters,” said David Oakes of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, speaking to Block Club Chicago.
Each participating artist decorated an individual letter in the mural. One artist, Bailey Funk, painted the words “say their names” in the letter B, prompting the chamber to consider giving more prominence to the names of the dead.
Now the names encircle the mural, each one colour-coded to give context to the deaths.
The names in pink are people whom police killed in the last five years, while the names in yellow identify unarmed people of colour killed by police since 1975. More names are being added this week, according to the chamber.
Among those honoured in portraits are Merci Mack, a Black trans woman killed by a gunshot to the head, Tony McDade, a Black trans man shot by police, and Marsha P Johnson, a Black queer rights activist instrumental in the Stonewall uprising of 1969.
“Transgender women of colour were leaders in LGBT+ activism and throughout time, but they have been erased,” Laura Austin, associate director of the Andersonville chamber, said in a statement.
“We wanted to give them space. We wanted to make them a priority. It is long overdue.”
The Black Lives Matter movement gave rise to several memorials to the trans community, including a huge art installation on Hollywood Boulevard. Last week it was announced that the huge letters reading ‘All Black Lives Matter’ will remain there permanently.
The Anchorage Assembly on Wednesday passed a ban on “conversion therapy,” making illegal the practice of trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice has been widely condemned by medical professionals and counselors.
The move drew criticism from some religious institutions and groups as well as some parents who felt the ban infringed on parental and religious rights. The ordinance passed 9-2 with Assemblywomen Crystal Kennedy and Jamie Allard opposing.
The ban only pertains to licensed professionals, and specifically excludes clergy acting in a religious capacity and not as mental health professionals. It also excludes parents and others who are not licensed in provide counseling. The new law imposes a $500 fine on anyone who performs conversion therapy for each day they are in violation.
Hate group leader Tony Perkins rages:
The vote came despite widespread community opposition, with a majority of the 65 people who testified opposing the bill. Credit goes to a large local church (Anchorage Baptist Temple) and the Alaska Family Council for raising the alarm. Assembly Members Jamie Allard and Crystal Kennedy made heroic efforts to either defeat the measure or amend it to mitigate some of its harmful effects.
However, Family Research Council had a strong virtual presence in the form of Senior Fellow for Policy Studies Peter Sprigg. Last month, Peter spoke to the Anchorage Baptist Temple by video and, together with Matt Sharp of the Alliance Defending Freedom, briefed a group of Anchorage pastors via Zoom to educate them about the ordinance and encourage them to speak out against it.
Unfortunately, despite Peter’s best efforts, the Anchorage Assembly chose to move forward with a measure that is not anchored in constitutional law, professional ethics, or scientific truth.
The congressional GOP’s campaign arm is asking other Republican and conservative groups to attack Gina Ortiz Jones, the Democratic candidate for a key swing House seat in Texas, for being gay. A NRCC website outlining its preferred attacks on candidates instructs outside groups to include reminders of Jones’ sexual orientation in digital and TV advertising and mailers, highlighting an image of Jones with her partner.
The NRCC website, DemocratFacts.org, is a way for the committee to communicate its preferred messaging to Republican super PACs and other conservative groups without running afoul of campaign finance laws barring direct coordination. But of the dozens of candidates covered by DemocratFacts, Jones appears to be the only one pictured with their spouse or partner.
Steven King, a popular content creator on the social media platform TikTok, said he stumbled across the video-sharing app by accident early last year.
“I saw an advertisement for what I thought was an app that could put your selfies into motion” he said. “I downloaded it, and two days later I was posting my first video.”
King, 47, started by sharing videos about his day, his relationship with his husband and what clothes he wanted to wear. They must have resonated because his following started to grow — all the way to 3 million as of this week.
As Steven King’s TikTok account started to grow, he needed to be photo-ready every time he left his house, he said. Courtesy Steven King
“The amount of people that are seeing my face, that are engaging with these videos I’m creating,” he said, “really put me in awe.”
King, now a verified creator on the platform, said he knew he was onto something when the comment sections on his page started to fill up with questions about coming out, LGBTQ relationships and confidence in one’s own identity.
“When I joined TikTok, there was definitely the sense that it was a young-adult app,” he said, and “I knew right away that these were teenagers asking, and I had a responsibility.”
So in February 2019, King, who lives in Arizona, began doing livestreams where he would answer questions from his followers — many of them LGBTQ youth and young adults — and creating videos to share his advice and aspects of his life story, from his 24-year relationship to his sobriety.
“The traumas that we suffer from as we grow have a huge impact on who we are as adults,” King said. “To be able to empathize and put myself back in the position that these teenagers are in, knowing where I came from and how I made it through, I just had to give back that information.”
With the help of the algorithm on its “For You” page, which feeds users curated content based on their previous interactions and “likes,” TikTok has helped LGBTQ content creators and audiences find one another on the platform. But some fear the queer community they helped foster on the social network may be in danger amid the face-off between TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and the Trump administration.
Collins Onosike, a verified TikTok content creator, has amassed 4.4 million followers since joining the platform several years ago.
Collins Onosike started making videos in 2016. Now, as a college student, he balances school and life as an influencer.Slash MGMT
“My ‘For You’ page is full of queer people — I love it,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of friends on here; it’s really a happy place”
Onosike, who has built both his career and social group around TikTok, is among those who has been on edge amid the back and forth between the president and ByteDance.
“The thought of just losing it, just losing all of it is quite scary — for myself and other influencers,” he said.
Onosike, 20, joined TikTok in its early days when the app was still called Musical.ly. At first, he focused on dance and lip-sync videos, but he then pivoted to comedy skits where he often incorporates drag into his performances.
“I get a lot of comments saying, ‘Seeing the way you express yourself has given me the courage to be myself as well.’ It’s so cool to see the amount of power a video can give to someone else.”
‘Freaking out’
For Sarah Schauer, the prospect of TikTok shutting down was like “having deja vu.”
“I was like, ‘Are you f—— kidding me? I’ve done this before,” said Schauer, who started her social media career on the now-defunct video-sharing platform Vine and lost 848,000 followers in one day when it shut down in 2017.
“I understand why everyone else was freaking out, but it was like ‘I had practiced for this,'” she said. “This time I would lose 1.2 million [followers].”
Sarah Schauer said it felt good to get recognized on TikTok after her time on the now-defunct video-sharing platform Vine.Slash MGMT
Schauer, who lives in Los Angeles, started posting on TikTok last year after hearing success stories of other creator accounts growing rapidly on the platform. She said she has found a supportive fan base on the app, where she shares point-of-view-style comedy videos.
“I didn’t do queer content when I was on Vine, because I came out later, but I’ve started to integrate it into my content now,” said Schauer, who is bisexual and estimates that her followers are about half queer and half straight.
Schauer, who said the platform’s large queer community is commonly referred to as “gay TikTok,” said the app’s algorithm is about discoverability — and goes far beyond LGBTQ-related content.
“I’ve seen so much Native American and native Hawaiian content. The disabled community can create videos about their situations,” she explained. “I’ve never seen their videos as much as I have now.”
‘We’ll find a way to do it again’
For Chris Olsen and Ian Paget, a gay couple who split their time between New York and Los Angeles, TikTok started as a place to watch videos and stay entertained amid the pandemic. But then in April, the duo started posting their own videos to the platform.
Ian Paget, left, and Chris Olsen wear apparel they made after seeing the success of their pages on TikTok.Courtesy Chris Olsen
The allegations — that the young, gay mayor had used his position of power to sexually proposition vulnerable college students — spread quickly through his western Massachusetts district, leading one member of Holyoke’s city council to call for his resignation.
But less than a week later, The Intercept published explosive reports alleging that members of the College Democrats at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Morse once worked, had schemed for months to create a sex scandal to derail Morse’s progressive challenge to incumbent Rep. Richard Neal, with whom the students reportedly wanted to secure an internship.
Two debates later, and a week before the Massachusetts Democratic primary, Morse says he has been vindicated, and that he is raising more money through donations than at any point so far in his campaign.
“A number of folks are seeing it for what it is, in terms of the the language and response to the accusations being rooted in age-old homophobic tropes and the constant overpolicing of the personal lives, the sex lives, of gay men and members of the queer community,” Morse told NBC News.
Relationships with ‘teenagers’
The Aug. 7 article in UMass Amherst’s paper, the Daily Collegian, reported that the school’s College Democrats chapter had sent a letter to Morse saying he was disinvited from their future events because the Holyoke mayor used apps such as Grindr, Tinder and Instagram to meet college students “who were as young as 18 years old,” reportedly making them feel uncomfortable.
The next day, Masslive.com reported on allegations that Morse had relationships with “teenagers,” and UMass Amherst posted a statement saying it was “launching an immediate review of the matter” and had no plans to hire Morse back as a lecturer in the political science department, where he worked from 2014 to 2019. The College Democrats of Massachusetts published a letter on Twitter on Aug. 9, saying Morse “abused his power for sexual relationships” and confirmed they sent a similar emailed statement to the candidate himself.
The LGBTQ Victory Fund condemned Sullivan, saying it “believes the use of the word ‘teenagers’ is meant to purposely evoke homophobic stereotypes of gay men as pedophiles.”
“The architects of these efforts knew this is where the conversation would lead – with no regard for the homophobia it would unleash,” the group said, asking those supporting Sullivan’s motion to “ask themselves whether he would treat a straight candidate the same way.”
Sullivan did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. However, he told Masslive last week that he is seeking a Holyoke City Council vote on an investigation into the allegations against Morse.
In response to a request from NBC News about the Daily Collegian’s role in the first days of the controversy and the source of the letter from the College Democrats to Morse, which the paper was the first to report on, a spokesperson shared this statement on Tuesday: “The letter was provided by a member within a chapter of the College Democrats of Massachusetts, who was granted anonymity. As newspaper policy, we do not comment further on sourcing.”
Two days after the first story broke, Morse posted a statement on Twitter saying accusations that he abused his position were “false.”
“I have never, in my entire life, had a non-consensual sexual encounter with anyone,” he wrote. “I have never used my position of power as Mayor or UMass lecturer for romantic or sexual gain, or to take advantage of students. I have never violated UMass policy.”
Morse decided to stay in the race, saying he trusts the voters of Massachusetts’ 1st Congressional District to make up their own minds as to whether homophobia influenced the alleged scheme.
“If voters aren’t seeing the homophobia, they are certainly seeing the establishment — they are seeing a powerful incumbent at risk of losing a seat and the people around him willing to do whatever it takes for him to hold onto power,” Morse said.
But just as quickly as the scandal had appeared, it seemed to disappear: A new report cast strong doubts on the original College Democrats letter five days after it made news.
On Aug. 12, The Intercept reported on leaked chat logs showing these students conspiring in 2019 to gin up a sex scandal in order to harm Morse’s candidacy — and help his opponent, incumbent Democratic Rep. Richard Neal. The Intercept — which did not name the source of the leaked chat logs and private Instagram messages, some of which were included in the article — reported that these young Democrats hoped that by sabotaging Morse’s campaign they would endear themselves to Rep. Neal, first elected in 1988 and, as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful incumbent Democrats in Congress.
Two days later, UMass Amherst — which bans faculty from sexual relationships with students “for whom the faculty member has any responsibility for supervision, evaluation, grading, advising, employment, or other instructional or supervisory activity” —announced it had hired an independent attorney to investigate the scandal.
The College Democrats of Massachusetts did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment, but in a statement to HuffPost, which was shared on Twitter, the College Democrats of Massachusetts denied any wrongdoing and said the letter to Morse “was not politically motivated” and “had nothing to do with any of our members’ professional ambitions or personal politics.” In its Aug. 9 letter shared on Twitter before the Intercept reported on its chat logs, the student group said suggestions that its decision to break ties with Morse had anything to do with his sexual orientation are “untrue, disingenuous, and harmful.”
In a statement, Rep. Neal said, “any implications that I or anyone from my campaign are involved are flat wrong and an attempt to distract from the issue at hand.”
Morse, however, maintains this was “a coordinated political attack with the intention of harming our campaign at a pivotal moment.”
“There were students that Congressman Neal involved that were trying to curry favor with a powerful incumbent to secure a job, and this goes to the height of the Massachusetts Democratic Party,” Morse told NBC News.
The Intercept reports revitalized his campaign by changing the narrative and fueling a surge of campaign donations. On Sunday, Morse appeared to acknowledge this by sharing a picture of himself on Twitter carrying a bag emblazoned with The Intercept’s logo: “New tote.”
The mayor and his message
Since declaring his candidacy last year, Morse has taken an anti-incumbent progressive message to voters in the Bay State’s first district, which covers part of the central Connecticut River Valley and the hilly western Berkshires area.
“On every issue Congressman Neal doesn’t understand the urgency of the moment,” Morse said. “From criminal justice, climate change, to the influence of money in politics.”
“He’s using his power to benefit the corporate and special interests that have invested millions in his campaign, and he’s not using his power to help the people, places, and communities in western and central Massachusetts,” Morse added.
His message echoes those that helped propel figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres to primary victories in solid blue districts, and one Morse hopes will win in his Sept. 1 primary.
A poll conducted this month put Morse within five points of Neal, with 13 percent of voters undecided — well within the striking distance that other Democratic challengers from the left had before winning in their primaries.
Morse, who at 31 is among the first of a generation of LGBTQ politicians who came of age using common dating apps such as OkCupid, Tinder and Grindr, said he “will never apologize for being young and gay and single and using gay dating apps and having consensual relations with other adult men.”
“I think my decision to stay in this race and fight and be open and honest about my life and my personal life I think will make it more likely that other young people, other queer people, other single people feel like they, too, can run for office,” he said.
A teacher in Texas has reportedly been placed on administrative leave after she allowed students to submit their pronouns and posted LGBT+ rights and Black Lives Matter images on her virtual classroom.
An image of Roma High School English teacher Taylor Lifka’s remote learning site was posted online Friday (August 21) by Marian Knowlton, a Republican candidate for Texas’ 31st district who took offence at her efforts to include trans students, women, students of colour and queer kids.
It shows an avatar of the teacher standing infront of posters advocating for Black Lives Matter and LGBT+ rights, among other human rights causes.
“Many of you know that I am concerned about what the children of Texas are learning in our schools,” Knowlton wrote.
The Republican said she had received the screenshot from a “concerned educator” shown it by a parent who had removed their child from Lifka’s English class.
Knowlton continued: “This is the virtual classroom that each student visits every day. They are welcomed by an LGBT ‘diversity is welcomed’ poster, a feminism poster that translates to ‘Girlfriend, your struggle is my struggle’, a photo of radical protesters (one of whom looks like an ANTIFA member) and propaganda that promotes the radical marxist movement ‘Black Lives Matter’.
“In addition, this teacher asks which pronoun they prefer! This is from a public school in one of the counties in House District 31!”
The Republican further sought to stir tensions by claiming: “Our education system has been radicalising our children for years and it continues to do so, from elementary through higher education. This is not an isolated occurrence, it is a national pattern.
“A concerted effort to teach children what to think, not how to think. Leftist indoctrination.”
According to The Monitor, Roma Independent School District (ISD) did not name Lifka, but said in a statement Tuesday (August 25): “After reviewing the complaints, the district is working closely with the teacher to find a resolution that will ensure all parties involved reach an outcome that best benefits the expectations of our parents and needs of our students.
“The teacher is not being reprimanded in any way for her work or decisions.”
However, a Change.org petition, which has now been signed by more than 15,000 people, is calling for the LGBT-inclusive Texas teacher to be reinstated.
The petition reads: “Please sign this petition to let the school district know that inclusivity and acceptance are not taboo ideas that deserve censorship; that high school students can and should be allowed to discuss the realities of the world instead of being sheltered inside a sanitised bubble; and that by reprimanding the teacher for trying to create a safe space for her students, the school is not being neutral, but is actively taking a stance that is antithetical to justice.”
Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of late evangelical pastor Billy Graham and daughter of evangelist Franklin Graham, gave a primetime speech at the Republican National Convention aimed at boasting about President Donald Trump’s policies that protect so-called religious liberty.
During her speech, she referred to transgender girls as “boys” while discussing policies that aim to accommodate transgender people based on their gender identity.
“Democrats pressured schools to allow boys to compete in girls sports and use girls locker rooms,” she said.
There were no efforts to “pressure” schools. However, there have been legal battles provoked by conservatives after largely Democratic lawmakers passed various measures to accommodate transgender Americans.
In a statement shared with NBC News, the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights group, called Lynch’s remarks “dehumanizing and demeaning.”
“What is particularly shameful is the targeting of some of the most vulnerable in our community: transgender kids,” HRC President Alphonso David said. “Cissie Graham Lynch’s comments were despicable and must be widely condemned by anyone who claims to be an ally of LGBTQ people.”
