Police seek the public’s support in finding a suspect wanted in connection with three Philadelphia shootings, including two murders, who may have targeted his victims because they were gay. All three shootings took place near Hunting Park Recreation Center between May 29 and June 26.

The suspect is 21-year-old Jahylin Melchur, who has not been located by police and is not in police custody as of July 7. Police seek the public’s support in tracking down the suspect, whose image was captured on surveillance cameras. Previous reporting underlined that Melchur should be considered armed and dangerous.

Each of the victims was found partially clothed between 10 and 11 p.m.

On May 29, a 55-year-old in Juniata Park was found two miles from the rec center. The victim, who survived the encounter with critical injuries, said a man approached him and announced his intention to rob him, before shooting him in the elbow and torso.

Martin Higgins, 45, was pronounced dead on the bleachers of the rec center’s baseball field on June 20, suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Sharef Holman, 29, was found near the basketball courts on June 26, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Temple University Hospital but died shortly thereafter.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore declined to answer the Philadelphia Inquirer’s question regarding whether the victims may have met Melchur on a dating app, citing the ongoing investigation. Sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer that investigators are exploring this possibility

Although robbery may be at least part of the motive in the first shooting, other movies are unclear.

NBC10 reported that law enforcement sources told the station all three victims were targeted because they were gay, but the Philadelphia Police Department did not confirm this.

The Philadelphia Police Department replied to PGN’s questions with an email stating, “This remains a very active investigation, and investigators are looking at all aspects of the case, including underlying motivations for committing these crimes.

“At this point, we can confirm that Melchur is wanted for two homicides by shooting and one non-fatal shooting, all of which occurred in the Hunting Park area. 

“The investigation has not established that the victims were specifically targeted because of their sexual orientation.”

The Philadelphia Police Department is urging anyone with information to contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip by calling the PPD Tip Line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).

(This story is republished with permission of the Philadelphia Gay News.)

Count on “the people” to determine how they wanted to celebrate the 250^th birthday of the United States of America during the July 4^th weekend. For those not fixated on FIFA World Cup matches or Taylor Swift’s wedding to Travis Kelce or CNN’s Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper getting drunk waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square marking the historic Independence Day, FOX News breathlessly covered poster-boy-for-pomposity Donald Trump as he took a massive South Dakota stage against the backdrop of Mount Rushmore, where he hopes to mount his own visage.

Mount Rushmore is internationally famous as the backdrop used by director Alfred Hitchcock in his 1958 film “North by Northwest.” One Hitchcock scholar described the acclaimed movie in which villain James Mason chases Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint over recreations of the granite presidential faces as “a comic thriller about mistaken identity, political depravity, sexual blackmail, and ubiquitous role-playing.”

The weather also added drama for 4,800 fans who secured tickets through an online lottery. “A nearby lightning storm Friday afternoon pushed people indoors before the programming started, with hundreds cramming into the memorial’s cafeteria,” the South Dakota Searchlight reported. “Thunder, hail, and heavy rain continued for over an hour.”

After Trump’s speech, California-based Pyro Spectaculars, with a $700,000 contract, produced a fireworks show to The Village People’s gay anthem “YMCA.”

Trump evoked a hell storm of his own, warning about “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land,” resurrecting his Red and Lavender Scare closeted gay McCarthy era mentor, Roy Cohen.

“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty,” Trump said, apparently alluding to the recent primary victories of Democratic socialist candidates. “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11.”

AP fact check: linking Democrats to communism is “inaccurate.”

Trump’s penchant for an “alternative facts” Orwellian spin that demands loyal acceptance of a lie suggests this is his new gauntlet for the midterms. “Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” he declared. “It’s death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil.”

In his Mount Rushmore speech, Trump “was sharpening a line of attack that the White House has started to use to head off a newly insurgent progressive wing of the Democratic Party that appears to be resonating with liberal voters,” the New York Times reported. “He said the word ‘communism’ so many times, you might’ve thought the Cold War was still on.”

Trump also asserted that Republicans will “not lose an election for a hundred years” if they end the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, which would require anyone attempting to register to vote to prove U.S. citizenship and show identification at the polls. He wants to choose who votes, flipping the democratic principle of having voters choose their own leaders and representatives.

For America’s 250^th birthday, Trump has shifted from talking about kings and dictators to comparing himself favorably to other American presidents, especially George Washington. As CNN noted in 2019, during an April 2018 tour of Washington’s home with French president Emmanuel Macron, Trump reportedly remarked on Mount Vernon and Washington: “If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it. You’ve got to put your name on stuff, or no one remembers you.”

This Washington comparison is also familiar. “I don’t know if you knew it, but he actually ran his business simultaneously when he was president,” Trump said during an October Cabinet meeting. “George Washington was actually considered a very rich man at the time. … George Washington, they say, had two desks. He had a presidential desk and a business desk.”

Trump cited Washington again in his March 2025 State of the Union speech. “In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency — it’s our presidency — is the most successful in the history of our nation. And what makes it even more impressive is that, do you know who No. 2 is? George Washington. How about that? I don’t know about that list. But we’ll take it.”

Experts disagree. On Feb. 18, 2024, Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus said their Presidential Greatness Project poll ranked Trump last.

“Trump,” the scholars wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “maintains the position he held six years ago: dead last, trailing such historically calamitous chief executives as James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson. In that and other respects, Trump’s radical departure from political, institutional and legal norms….puts him behind not only Buchanan and Johnson but also such lowlights as Franklin Pierce, Warren Harding and William Henry Harrison, who died a mere 31 days after taking office.”

Given Trump’s tantrums over aerial photos showing low attendance for his big 250 State Fair address, one wonders if splashing his name and image on buildings, money, and other “beautification” projects, currently projected by Forbes to be roughly $162.5+ million – plus the “vanity” $1.4+ billion ballroom – might be his middle finger to critics. Might his ultimate goal be replacing Washington DC’s name with his own?

Trump raked in a $2 billion haul last year, according to a 927-page financial disclosure report showing how he and his family “reaped huge financial rewards in 2025 through his money-losing Trump Media venture and a separate cryptocurrency firm called World Liberty Financial, even as routine investors suffered vast losses,” the New York Times reported July 1. “He also amassed hundreds of millions through deals that involved foreign governments or corporations with agenda items pending before the Trump administration.”

Meanwhile, the federal government debt as of July 5 is $39.46 trillion or $115,625 per American, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

Washington warned about potential despots like Trump. Sarah Pruitt’s 2020 analysis of Washington’s Farewell Address, the first version of which was written by his friend and protégé Alexander Hamilton, concludes that the retiring president focused on three themes: 1) the Importance of unity; 2) The ‘Worst Enemy’ of Government: Loyalty to Party Over Nation; 3) Danger of Foreign Entanglements.

Shirking the nation’s common interest could engender a “spirit of revenge” and prompt the rise of “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” who would “usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterward the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion,” Washington cautioned.

The Constitution’s system of checks and balances and separation of powers prevented despots or groups from taking control of the government. And the system also allowed for change through laws or constitutional amendments rather than by force.

Washington urged unity above all. “The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations,” he wrote. “You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.”

In their survey, the presidential scholars said their assessments “are driven not only by traditional notions of greatness but also by the evolving values of our time.”

That emphasis on common interests and shared values was represented on July 3 by New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, an inspirational Democratic Socialist, who delivered remarks commemorating America’s 250th Fourth of July birthday while sitting at George Washington’s desk, surrounded by recently naturalized American citizens.

“Two hundred and fifty years presents a rare opportunity for more than 340 million people to turn together — both towards one another and towards ourselves, to take measure of who we are as a nation. When we look at America, what do we see?” he asked.

“The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here, nothing is fixed into place. The frontier may be closed, we may have walked on the moon, but the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence — that work endures, my friends, and it belongs to us all. It belongs, too, to our newest Americans, those standing here with me today,” Mamdani said.

“Patriotism has never been about pretending our nation is without flaws,” he said. “Patriotism is every act of righteous dissent, it is every march led under the heavy sun, it is every protest held a decade before its time. It is precisely because we love this nation that we will not leave it. After all, who loves America more than those who have sacrificed so much to make it free?”

The real celebrations of America’s 250 anniversary came from regular grassroots folks like the thousands organized by AIDS Healthcare Foundation and representatives from 50 coalitions for their “We the People March for Freedom” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on July 3. Gov. Ron DeSantis missed the patriotism. He was at Mount Rushmore with Trump.

The marchers were encouraged to bring signs with messages about issues that matter to them, such as the war in Iran, affordability, which Trump called a “hoax,” and housing, which he calls “a yawn”.

Longtime AHF friend, labor leader and activist Dolores Huerta, Haitian American activist Santra Denis, Healthcare advocate Alecia Tramel-McIntyre, Gen Z activist Maxx Fenning, and AHF President/CEO Michael Weinstein all participated in a rally and marched through downtown Fort Lauderdale, culminating in another event with a powerful musical performance by award-winning gospel artist Erica Campbell.

Florida is of particular importance to AHF and other HIV/AIDS activists. Recently, AHF and coalition members won a strong pressure campaign against the state, requiring DeSantis to restore ADAP funding to his state budget, though other serious issues remain.

“This victory belongs to our whole coalition, the clinicians, providers, and people living with HIV who told their stories at real personal cost,” Esteban Wood, Director of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs at AHF, said in a press release. “We led this fight together. For months, it was a promise. Today it is the law, and people can finally breathe.”

In a recent hour-long Zoom conversation, Michael Weinstein and I talked about Trump’s obsession with communism; Michael’s long association with Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders; how the issue of income equality crosses all lines; opposition to corporate politics expressed by young Democratic Socialists; and comparing the possibility of their influence and pull to the pull the Tea Party had on the Republican Party.

Michael also gives his take on the political scene and disapproval of Trump – in Part 1, along with strong comments on Gaza, immigration, race, and Texas political star James Talarico.

In Part 2 of our interview here, Michael and I talked more about politics, HIV/AIDS, and AHF. I’ve been covering AHF since the late 1980s, when the nonprofit was AIDS Hospice Foundation While AHF is now a global $3 billion healthcare organization with 10,000 employees (for which they won a Forbes Award as one of America’s Best Large Employers, #98), Michael’s through-line from the Lavender Left until now is his deep commitment to helping those in need. At the end of our conversation/interview on the cusp of this historic moment, I asked him what freedom and independence meant to him.

MW: “Well, on a personal level, it means being able to be all of who I am – a senior, a gay man who’s married to another man, a history thinker. I’m an activist on a societal level.

I still get goosebumps when I drive by the Capitol, when I see the Lincoln Memorial. When I reflect on so many American heroes.

We are very imperfect, right? But that’s humanity. We have a choice between the angels of our nature and the sub-basement of our nature. It’s up to us individually and collectively to bring out the best in us.

And I have found the individual protests, which I usually go to in my neighborhood. I don’t go to the one downtown. I go to the one in Hollywood – and seeing that mix of people with their homemade signs and seeing the people honking and all that – it’s a tonic.

Sometimes I argue with my family members who are… I describe them as: left, very left, and extremely left – more or less. It’s my extended family, too, [with] a couple of conservatives thrown in there, but not much. We don’t have to worry about arguing at family gatherings. But sometimes I have to say to them, ‘I like living in the California bubble’….

So, it’s all about keeping the promise, right? The promise isn’t fulfilled. But it’s about aspiring to keep the promise.

And if I just reflect on LGBTQ and AIDS issues, America stepped up to bring treatment to the world. Nobody else did that, besides us.

When I think about the movement for LGBTQ rights, we were the spearhead of that.

I think about the Women’s Movement. I think about the Civil Rights Movement – we’ve both lagged behind but also been the tip of the spear.

And so, I’m American, through and through. And I’m an Angeleno. This is my fate, for better or worse. I’m gonna make the best of it….

Sometimes when I’m talking to progressive people, I have to say, ‘I have a simple definition of being a progressive: I want to help the most people in need with the things they need the most.’

I think part of my evolution from being a far lefty to where I am now is – it was a point at which I gave up on ideology. I said – that is not the answer. The answer is how to help….

This is so extreme [now]. I mean, this makes the Pharaohs and the Gilded Age look like child’s play. It’s not sustainable. It’s not going to continue this way. It can’t continue. You can’t have this many people so disenfranchised. It will change. The pendulum does swing.

And it will.”

Watch the full interview with Michael Weinstein.

This is a cross-post from Karen’s LGBTQ+ Freedom Fighters Substack.

Madonna isn’t just back, she’s ubiquitous. 

From a Times Square takeover to Graham Norton’s couch, the pop legend is busy promoting her new album, “Confessions II,” a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” that is earning rave reviews.

“Madonna’s back in peak form with a fresh and honest dance record that’s not only her best in 20 years, but a genuinely vital addition to her canon,” says Pitchfork.

“Facing grief and loss has made Madonna’s music deeper than it’s been in 20 years, but also more alive,” the Guardian proclaims.

“If everyone in the club is a work of art, as ‘Danceteria’ says, then to live loudly is to make an indelible mark,” according to Vulture.

The album features upbeat dance productions along with some melancholic views on death and loss. On the song “Betrayal,” she reflects on the recent death of her stepmother Joan, singing, “You’ll never take my mother’s place … you betrayed me, you enslaved me.”

On “L.E.S. Girl,” she revisits her early days living on the Lower East Side and struggling to pay the rent. “Bizarre” seems to reference her failed 1980s marriage to actor Sean Penn. “Test” is a duet with daughter Lola Leon, in which she sings, “I wish I knew / The pain I’ve caused / My butterfly / Was always being watched.”

But the emotional high point of the album comes on “Fragile,” which she wrote about the death of her brother Christopher. The two were close early in Madonna’s career and he designed sets for early tours, including “Blonde Ambition.” But they had a falling out after her marriage to Guy Ritchie and he wrote a scathing tell-all book about his sister that led to years of estrangement. The two reconciled after Christopher’s cancer diagnosis and shortly before he died in 2024 at age 63. She sings, “Late last night I was fast asleep/You came to me in a dream/You said, ‘Don’t forget about me/Don’t forget to be happy.’”

Death emerges again but in a much more upbeat context in “Danceteria,” an ode to the iconic New York nightclub that has emerged as a gay favorite single and seems destined to be the song of the summer in queer nightlife. She recounts her pre-fame days trying to convince a DJ to play her first single “Everybody” at the club and name checks Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, best friend Debi Mazar, and DJ Mark Kamins on the track. 

Streaming numbers and sales are strong for the new album with projected first week sales of 100,000 ensuring a No.1 debut in the U.S.

While the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. B.P.J. continues to dominate headlines about transgender rights, three recent federal court cases produced significant rulings that limited or temporarily blocked Trump-Vance administration policies attacking trans Americans.

Talbott v. USA

Trump issued Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” on Jan. 27, 2025, banning trans people from serving in the military. The following day, GLAD Law and the National Center for LGBTQ Rights filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the ban on behalf of six active-duty service members and two individuals seeking to enlist. The organizations argue the policy violates the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.

The plaintiffs sought a nationwide preliminary injunction — a temporary block on enforcement of the executive order while the litigation continued. The district court granted that injunction and later rejected the Trump-Vance administration’s request to dissolve it, temporarily protecting trans service members from being discharged solely because of their gender identity.

That protection, however, was short-lived. In Shilling v. Trump, the Supreme Court stayed the lower court’s injunction, allowing the military to begin enforcing the trans service ban while litigation continued. The U.S. Air Force subsequently required trans service members facing involuntary separation proceedings to appear in uniforms and grooming standards corresponding to their sex assigned at birth and, in some cases, used their deadnames during those proceedings.

Despite that setback, the plaintiffs secured two significant legal victories during Pride month.

On June 1, a federal appeals court blocked the discharge of the trans service members involved in Talbott. Then, on June 30, a federal district court certified the case as a class action on behalf of all currently serving trans service members. That means future rulings in the case will apply not only to the original six plaintiffs but to all active-duty trans military personnel covered by the class.

The case remains ongoing, but class certification significantly strengthens the ability to protect trans service members as the litigation continues. Currently, there are 28 plaintiffs in total, including the two still attempting to enlist.

Z.A. v. Blanche

In Z.A. v. Blanche (formerly Z.A. v. Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an emergency order one day before a federal grand jury subpoena was set to be enforced on July 2. The order blocked the Department of Justice from obtaining confidential medical records belonging to California families whose children receive gender-affirming care.

The ruling relied in part on protections established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the 1996 federal law governing the privacy and security of medical records.

The decision represented a significant check on the administration’s efforts to obtain sensitive patient information, protecting the privacy of trans patients and their families while the legal challenge proceeds.

Doe v. Blanche

Doe v. Blanche, which remains ongoing, challenges Trump’s executive order, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. Under policies implementing that order, many trans women in federal custody would be housed in men’s prisons.

A federal district court in D.C. granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a Bureau of Prisons policy that would require incarcerated trans women to be housed in men’s facilities regardless of individualized safety assessments or the risk of sexual assault.

The Bureau of Prisons policy also conflicts with the goals of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), enacted by Congress in 2003 to address sexual abuse in correctional facilities through standards, research, funding, and prevention measures. Federal data has consistently shown that trans people in custody experience sexual assault at dramatically higher rates than the general prison population.

Turkish authorities have refused to allow a gay cruise to dock in the country.

The Scarlet Lady, a Virgin Voyages ship that Atlantis Events chartered, departed Athens on Sunday. The 10-day cruise is scheduled to end in Trieste, Italy, on July 15.

The ship had been scheduled to dock in Kusadasi, a Turkish resort town on the Aegean Sea, on Tuesday. It was then slated to sail to Istanbul on Wednesday.

Officials in Aydin Province in which Kusadasi is located on June 28 posted a statement on X that confirmed the decision not to allow the Scarlet Lady to dock in Turkey.

Authorities noted the “groups” behind the cruise are “known for behaviors that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values.” The June 28 statement also says the scheduled docking “caused great discomfort in various segments of our society.”

BASIN AÇIKLAMASI

Basın yayın organları ve sosyal medya platformlarında gündeme gelen, toplumumuzun yapısıyla ve ahlaki değerlerimizle örtüşmeyen davranışlarıyla bilinen gruplarca kiralanan bir kruvaziyer gemisinin 7 Temmuz 2026 tarihinde Aydın Kuşadası Limanınına planlamış… pic.twitter.com/MHqN0NoXHI

— T.C. Aydın Valiliği (@AydinValiligi) June 28, 2026

Atlantis Events in a statement on its website said the company has “been informed by the Turkish authorities that Atlantis will not be permitted to dock in Kusadasi or Istanbul during this voyage.”

“As a result, we have had to alter our sailing itinerary somewhat,” it reads.

The statement notes the cruise will now stop in Alexandria, Egypt, and Crete.

“Both ports have excellent opportunities for exploration and enjoyment and have been favorites of ours for years,” it reads.

(Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt. The Egyptian Football Association, along with the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran, objected to playing in the World Cup’s “Pride Match” that took place in Seattle on June 26.)

Patti LuPone, who is performing on the cruise, sharply criticized the Turkish government over its decision.

“The Atlantis cruise I am performing on next week, has been banned from entering Turkey,” she said on her Facebook page on July 2. “A ship — a magnificent ship — full of well-heeled gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board. I am furious, but I am sailing, as the ship will make other ports of call. I am ready to perform for all the wonderful men on this Atlantis cruise, who deserve so much better than this.”

Atlantis Events CEO Rich Campbell told the Washington Post that his company’s cruises have visited Turkey more than a dozen times over the last two decades.

“We’re there to shop, be great tourists, spend money,” he said. “It’s always a culturally respectful group.”

Campbell further noted Turkey could lose at least $1 million in tourism revenue over its decision.

“The bigger damage to Turkey is when you start picking and choosing who’s allowed to enter, and your economy depends on tourism, you’re creating a standoff between tourists and yourself,” he told the Post. “And you run the risk of alienating a lot of potential tourists.”

The Los Angeles Blade on Monday reached out to Campbell for additional comment.

There are moments when an incident stops being merely a local story and begins to reveal something much deeper. What happened on June 28 outside One Church, in Comerío, Puerto Rico, belongs in that category.

I do not know who painted the rainbow colors on the asphalt and on a roadside guardrail. I do not know what motivated them, and it is not my place to justify their actions. If someone believes a law was broken, there are authorities and legal mechanisms to address that. That is not the point of this reflection.

The point is the words that followed.

Hours after those colors appeared, Pastor Jorge J. Santiago Reyes went live on social media. He said he felt threatened. He described what happened as a physical attack against his church. He appeared angry and disappointed. He called those who painted the rainbow “cowards” and “charlatans.” He expressed frustration with the support that, according to him, the municipal government of Comerío has shown toward the LGBTQ+ community, and with those who support posts related to that community. He repeated several times that the people responsible had “crossed the line.” He ended his message by saying, “These charlatans have to be stopped.”

As I listened to his words, I stopped thinking about the paint.

I began thinking about fear.

There is one phrase the pastor repeated again and again: “They crossed the line.” Yet he never explained what that line was. If he was referring to a possible violation of the law, that is for the authorities to determine. If he meant respect for property, there are also procedures to deal with that. But when that line remains undefined and the message begins to associate a rainbow with a threat, the question changes. It is no longer only about a guardrail or a road. It becomes a question about what boundary, in the pastor’s view, was actually crossed.

Paint can be erased.

A brush can cover the asphalt and return a guardrail to its original color.

What does not disappear so easily is the meaning of those colors.

And perhaps that is where the real conflict begins.

It is significant that this happened precisely on June 28, the day when the LGBTQ+ community remembers a history marked by exclusion, violence, and the struggle for dignity. What represents memory, hope, and the possibility of living without hiding for millions of people was presented by others as a threat.

I do not know why someone painted that rainbow. I do not need to know in order to ask whether those were the words society should expect from a pastor.

A religious leader may feel hurt, frustrated, or angry. What he cannot forget is the responsibility that comes with every public expression. His words do not end when a livestream ends. They move beyond the space of his church, reach people who may never share his faith, and help shape the way others see those who think differently. When a pastor calls other people “charlatans” and “cowards,” says they “have to be stopped,” and turns a rainbow into evidence of an attack, he is no longer speaking only from frustration. He begins to build a discourse that can feed rejection toward a community far larger than the people responsible for that act.

There was another moment in the livestream that caught my attention. The pastor reminded viewers how much he has served Comerío, how much he has accompanied his community, and how much he has worked for it. I have no reason to question that service. I am sure many people can testify to the good he has done.

That is precisely why it was difficult to hear.

Pastoral vocation is not about reminding a town of everything one has done for it when conflict appears. Service does not lose its value when it goes unrecognized; it loses something when it becomes an argument to claim a moral position from which to speak down to others. A person who serves does so because that is the nature of the calling, not because that service grants authority to discredit those who think differently.

As a pastor, that part of the message left me deeply uneasy. Not because I expect ministers of God to be perfect. We are not. But because our words carry weight, we are called to speak with greater responsibility. Some expressions build bridges. Others raise walls. Some words invite encounter. Others end up justifying rejection.

The paint will disappear. A brush will be enough to cover the asphalt and return the guardrail to its original color.

The words will not disappear as easily.

They will remain recorded in a video, shared again and again on social media, and remembered by those who heard them. They will remain long after the last trace of paint has been erased.

When this episode is remembered, it probably will not be because of the rainbow that appeared outside One Church, in Comerío, Puerto Rico.

It will be because of the words a pastor chose to use when speaking about it.

And that difference changes everything.

As the United States of America acknowledges her 250^th birthday, too many Americans are partying with fewer family and friends because their wallets and their patriotic hearts just aren’t in it. Meanwhile, the president is using taxpayer dollars to finance ugly pet projects , and a war of choice with Iran that no one wants, and Congress didn’t authorize, while We the People just watch an uncontrolled Trump train speeding through American lives.

Theoretically, this is nothing new. Since the nation’s founding in 1776, individuals have struggled with where to place their allegiance to best uphold their personal freedom and protect the collective unity of the country.

But now the simple democracy-project premise “of the people, by the people, and for the people” has been upended and subverted by Donald Trump, the amoral corrupt 47^th president who is using the once independent Justice Department to bypass “due process” and pursue retribution against his enemies – especially around his baseless 2020 election claims – while rewarding his Jan. 6 army of criminal loyalists with pardons and a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-Weaponization” slush fund, now temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

There have been amoral and ineffectual presidents in the past, as well as arrogant presidents who wielded power inhumanely, such as Andrew Jackson, who defied the Supreme Court and oversaw the Indian Removal Act, and Rutherford B. Hayes, who pulled troops out of the South, effectively ending the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. And there have been dangerous, outright liars like Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, and Warren G. Harding, whose Teapot Dome Scandal in his administration may have killed him.

But American history has never seen such a profoundly corrupt con artist who has taken over the federal government, installing ideological autocratic loyalists intent on expanding Trump’s power in the Supreme Court and Congress – the second and third branches of government intended to provide checks and balances to an overreaching Executive.

And now, in allegiance to White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism, Trump is trying to claim the right and power to decide who gets to claim citizenship, how he can pre-determine the outcome of elections through gaslighting and disinformation, and how he can make American residents afraid and silently complicit by not challenging his blatant racism, sexism, and transphobia.

New York Times columnist M. Gessen writes: “Read the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on transgender athletes — the majority’s decision, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the dissent, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor — and you will see the members of the court arguing about something more fundamental than the law. They are arguing about who should be seen, whose story ought to be heard, and who deserves to be protected.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation co-founder and President Michael Weinstein might add that deciding who lives and dies is fundamental, too. The nonprofit is the world’s largest provider of HIV medical care, cutting-edge medicine, and advocacy regardless of ability to pay , with 3 million in care and 50 countries served.

AHF has a history of acting quickly with coalitions when there is a need. For that, Weinstein was honored by the Los Angeles Urban League on June 24 with the John W. Mack Legacy Award during the annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Awards Celebration.

“The Los Angeles Urban League is proud to present the John W. Mack Legacy Award to Michael Weinstein — transformative leader, fearless advocate, and champion for health equity and human rights,” they wrote in their announcement on Facebook.

“As Founder & President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Michael Weinstein has led one of the largest global HIV/AIDS medical care providers in the world, expanding access to treatment, housing, prevention, and advocacy for underserved communities. His bold leadership has saved lives while challenging stigma and systemic inequities in healthcare,” they continued.

“For decades, he has stood at the intersection of public health and social justice — building systems of care that affirm dignity, expand access, and ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind. His unwavering advocacy reflects the very principles that guide the Los Angeles Urban League’s mission: advancing equity, protecting opportunity, and strengthening communities,” they said. “In many ways, his work echoes the legacy of Whitney M. Young Jr. — courageous leadership rooted in policy, partnership, and a belief that justice must be both spoken and enacted.”

Interestingly, on June 24, the night the Urban League celebrated Weinstein as “a leader whose impact continues to shape a more just and compassionate future,” two consecutive 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, killing and injuring thousands.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez later called the earthquakes the “most brutal natural catastrophe” in Venezuela’s history.

In a horrific twist of fate, the BBC reported that ICE had deported more than 140 Venezuelans back to their home country on June 24, where they were housed in a hotel near the coast. The massive quakes struck there hours later, killing at least 2,200 people, injuring more than 10,000, and, according to UN figures, leaving 50,000 missing.

On July 2, the Venezuelan government estimated that 2,295 people died in the earthquakes, with another 11,000 injured.

“However, that’s believed to be a vast undercount. Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Venezuela, said the organization was procuring 10,000 body bags. And U.N. emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher called an estimate of 50,000 missing people ‘terrifyingly plausible,’” PBS reported.

Remember when Trump said the U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela after capturing Maduro in surprise military strike?

Meanwhile, AP reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June – that’s roughly 2,000 arrests per day – continuing Trump’s mass deportations agenda. No news about where they might be sent.

But while Trump is wildly spinning about his Fourth of July plans, AHF is in Venezuela, actively helping those in desperate need.

“The number of fatalities continues to rise, and many shelters have been set up in public spaces to help those in need. Hospitals and morgues are working tirelessly beyond their capacity, demonstrating the community’s resilience. Fortunately, international rescue teams have arrived, offering much-needed assistance to recover those still trapped in the debris. Venezuela’s government response has been uncoordinated, poor, and delayed, influenced by political interests,” Dr. Patricia Campos, Latin America Bureau Chief, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, wrote to Weinstein on Monday, June 29.

“Despite the communication challenges, our team from AHF Colombia has been communicating with 600 of the 1080 of our patients in care who live in Venezuela. We are continuing to search for the 480 others to be sure they are alive or to support them,” Campos concluded, noting that AHF´s Emergency Aid supplies arrived with 11/13 Foundation and distribution was underway.

In an hour-long Zoom interview, Weinstein talked about a number of issues, including his long association with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described Socialist, and the New York races that just yielded three Democratic Socialist candidates (Part 1) and his long, successful fight against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ HIV/AIDS cuts (Part 2).

Check out the video interview here.

“Well, as a native New Yorker,” Weinstein says, “the election in New York is a clash between the corporate Democrats and, particularly, a younger generation, with the exception of Bernie. It’s an epic change, right? And I would say that younger people who powered this (New York Mayor) Mamdani, AOC (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), and the rest of the movement do not feel that they have a stake in the system the way it is, right? And so, they’re willing to look at more radical answers.

“And this really is similar to the 1930s, you know, whereby when [President Franklin D.] Roosevelt came to office, who was a blue blood, right? He basically said, ‘in order to save the system, we have to move in the direction of socialism.’ He may not have called it that, but that’s essentially what it was,” Weinstein says.

“I mean, the model for democratic socialism is essentially Scandinavian and Northern European countries, right? Which is, essentially, a capitalist system that has a strong safety net, or basically says, ‘we’re going to tax the rich heavily in order to maintain a minimum level of existence for everyone.’

“So that’s basically what Bernie is espousing, and what Mamdani and others are espousing. And I don’t take too seriously…the characterizations that Trump has of them being Communist, et cetera, et cetera.”

Weinstein, longtime Latina activist Dolores Huerta, and an expected crowd of thousands in an AHF-created coalition are participating in a We The People March for Freedom in Trump’s Florida backyard on Friday, July 3.

“At a time in our nation when healthcare is being rationed, and rents are outpacing wages, teachers are working second jobs, and rural hospitals are closing, we must continue to stand up for what’s right for all Americans. July 4, 2026, marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. The We the People March for Freedom is not just an event to celebrate this document or its declaration of independence, but the night before the fireworks, to remind America what and who it’s for,” stated Esteban Wood, AHF Director of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs and March for Freedom coordinator.

This is a cross-post from Karen’s LGBTQ+ Freedom Fighters Substack.

Long-time West Hollywood resident and activist John Duran surprised many by announcing he was running again for West Hollywood City Council in the upcoming general election.

“I’m only doing this because I think it is absolutely necessary for the city’s health to have one person with some experience on the council,” Duran told the Los Angeles Blade. “I really think the city is heading in the wrong direction and is on the wrong track.”

Duran has a long history of advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community and was one of the founders of Equality California. He is known around the city and in his political career as having defended LGBTQ+ rights during 40 years of his legal career, including being an attorney for ACT UP during the AIDS epidemic, and was the statewide co-chair of the Life AIDS lobby when laws on HIV and AIDS were being made in the 80s.

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A post shared by John Jude Duran (@johnjudeduran)

Duran served on the West Hollywood City Council for two decades, starting from 2001, and passed on his mayoral seat in March 2019 after multiple sexual harassment allegations were made about Duran by past and current members of the Gay Men’s Chorus. Duran cited a health issue as his reason for stepping down as mayor. 

In February 2019, Duran left his board position within the Gay Men’s Chorus, claiming his departure was planned before these accusations came to light. 

An investigation into the allegations, published by the Los Angeles Times, included claims that Duran made inappropriate remarks and put his hand down two men’s waistbands. At the time, protestors and media scrutiny demanded his resignation from the council; after stepping down as mayor, Duran served the rest of his term as a city council member until Nov. 2020.

Prior to these accusations, in 2016, an aide received a $500,000 settlement from a sexual harassment suit against the City of West Hollywood and Duran. Neither Duran nor the city admitted wrongdoing in the settlement or suit.

In the six years since his last term, Duran said he’s enjoyed his privacy but is ready to get back to work for one last term.

He’s only eligible for another four years, so he feels he can use his expertise to get the council on better footing for long-term success.

“A lot of the votes right now are three to two, with the two people with lots of experience in the minority, and I think that produces some threats to the city in terms of growth, economic growth, housing development, and transportation,” Duran said. “All of the nuts and bolts of the city are under threat.”

Some issues he says he’s been frustrated seeing the council voting on are affordability and increasing safety along Fountain Ave.

“I think affordability is a big issue, and one of the issues that I disagree with the current council majority on is the issue about affordable housing and what to do about it,” Duran said. 

The strongest tool for affordable housing? Duran says it’s rent control.

“We cannot build our way out of this (lack of affordability) issue,” Duran said. “What’s happening now is the incentive to try to build more is resulting in the destruction of rent-controlled units, and so the net effect is we’re going backwards by tearing down rent-controlled apartment buildings.”

Long-term, he hopes to see the council continue to strengthen rent control and follow up on earthquake retrofitting that Duran says was “largely abandoned” since he left the council.

Issues Duran hopes to tackle if he’s voted in for his last four-year term include “boring” everyday policies and issues to improve within municipal government.

“There are too many unfunded capital projects in the city’s budget, like well over 50,” Duran said. 

Focusing on boring things like this can help fund future projects for the city long-term, he said.

“We need to look at our capital improvement projects and figure out which ones have to be cut, so we can put those unfunded projects back into our prudent reserves and really focus on how we’re going to use our prudent reserves.”

With so many capital improvement projects sitting in the pipeline, Duran said many of them are not being built due to economic shifts post-pandemic.

Another aspect he’d like to focus on improving if he gets voted back onto the city council is leadership development, especially for older council members, in cultivating younger LGBTQ+ leaders.

“I think a lot of the younger people that I see that are now running are inspired by being anti-Trump. I totally get that; I am too,” Duran said. “But really, what we have to start thinking about in terms of West Hollywood governance is the way that technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics are reshaping the world around us.”

“To me, those are the kind of conversations that need to happen for the future planning of West Hollywood,” he added. “I know I’m only going to be part of the launching of these conversations.”

Overall, Duran hopes that the spirit of West Hollywood, its defiant origins, and important LGBTQ+ history remain and shape the future of West Hollywood. 

“I’ve been coming here to West Hollywood since the 70s, when they said we were mentally ill and I got to watch the whole history of the LGBT community from my front doorstep,” Duran said. “I think it’s worth having at least one person on the council who’s got a sense of where we came from and helping direct where we need to go.”

That Duran has “no interest” in running for higher office in Sacramento or D.C. is a plus for voters, he said.

“I don’t want to see West Hollywood become like the rest of Los Angeles,” Duran said. “That would be so heartbreaking to think that we’re going to become just like Brentwood, Westwood, Hollywood. We’re not; we’re something unique, completely different.”

Queen Camilla on Tuesday met with JK Rowling.

The Royal Family on X said the meeting took place at Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The post included a picture of Camilla and Rowling together.

“With a shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure, The queen and author JK Rowling have met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh,” it reads. “Her Majesty and Ms. Rowling discussed the importance of ensuring that young people have access to books and the vital part reading plays in opening doors for future generations.”

📕 With a shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure, The Queen and author J.K. Rowling have met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

Her Majesty and Ms Rowling discussed the importance of ensuring that young people have access to… pic.twitter.com/Yx1Xy6olqC

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 30, 2026

Rowling over the last decade has emerged as a vocal opponent of transgender rights. Her meeting with Camilla took place on the last day of Pride month.

A gay couple from the U.S. is among the four people found dead in a mass grave in Mexico last month.

The Associated Press reported Zafar Mawani and Guillermo Hidalgo Ortiz disappeared on May 20. The couple was last seen in Mexico City’s Isidro Fabela neighborhood.

Media reports indicate Mawani and Hidalgo lived in Mexico and Chicago. They note the couple had traveled to Mexico City to care for Mawani’s sick mother. NBC Chicago reported investigators found “unusual withdrawals from the couple’s bank accounts” after they disappeared.

The AP notes Mexican authorities on June 25 confirmed Mawani and Hidalgo were among the four people found in the mass grave in La Marquesa National Park, which is roughly 20 miles southwest of Mexico City, on June 17.

Mexican media reports indicate a female former police officer who allegedly led a kidnapping and robbery gang is among the five people who have been arrested in connection with the couple’s murder.

“We are grateful beyond words to everyone who tried to help bring Zafar home to us — investigators on the ground, our core strategy and support team, authorities in both countries, generous volunteer organizations, as well as friends and loved ones who stepped forward to help without being asked,” said Mawani’s family in a statement.

Kidnappings are common in Mexico.

The AP notes more than 135,000 people are currently missing in the country “as a product of criminal violence,” with 977 people reported to have disappeared in May. Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in February set fire to cars and buses in Puerto Vallarta, a resort city in Jalisco state that is a popular destination for LGBTQ+ tourists from the U.S., after Mexican forces killed its powerful leader.

It is not clear whether Mawani and Hidalgo were specifically targeted because of their sexual orientation.