By Nuria Martinez-Keel | OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Oklahoma’s attorney general and state Department of Education are both suing the Biden administration over new Title IX rules protecting gender identity in schools.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond and the state agency each announced Monday they filed lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Education in Oklahoma City federal court. The cases were filed separately, but both asked that a U.S. district judge block the new regulations from taking effect.

The federal government released new legally binding Title IX rules on April 19 that include treatment based on gender identity within the scope of sex discrimination, among many other changes. The U.S. Department of Education declined to comment on pending litigation.

Multiple Republican attorneys general have filed legal challenges to the rules, specifically over the gender identity protections.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters said his agency is the first state education department to sue over the regulations.

“Title IX was designed to ensure women had the guarantee of sex equality in education and an environment free from discrimination, but this rewriting – rooted in radical gender theory that ignores biological reality – has set back the cause of civil rights for women by generations,” Walters said in a statement Monday. “I will do everything possible to protect the essential and fundamental right of women and girls to have safe spaces of their own to compete, change clothes, and use the bathroom.”

Walters has been a frequent opponent of schools making accommodations for transgender students’ identities. He advocated for an Oklahoma law that requires school bathrooms to be used according to a person’s birth sex, and he established a new rule that prevents a student’s gender to be changed retroactively on prior school records.

The state also has outlawed transgender girls from participating in women’s sports.

Drummond said the new rules are unconstitutional and will conflict with state law. The set of Title IX regulations “jeopardizes the equal opportunity that has been afforded to female athletes ever since the establishment of the statute,” his lawsuit states.

The new rules do not take a stance on athletic eligibility, though they could apply to other school policies, such as restroom use.

Walters already asked Oklahoma school districts to disregard the regulations.

However, the federal Department of Education has said the rules are mandatory for schools to continue receiving federal education funding, which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars for Oklahoma districts.

“As a condition of receiving federal funds, all federally-funded schools are obligated to comply with these final regulations and we look forward to working with school communities all across the country to ensure the Title IX guarantee of nondiscrimination in school is every student’s experience,” the federal agency said in a statement last month.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a response from the U.S. Department of Education. The federal agency declined to comment on pending lawsuits.

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Nuria Martinez-Keel covers education for Oklahoma Voice. She worked in newspapers for six years, more than four of which she spent at The Oklahoman covering education and courts. Nuria is an Oklahoma State University graduate.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Oklahoma Voice and is republished with permission.

Oklahoma Voice provides independent, nonpartisan reporting that holds officials accountable and elevates the voices of those too often sidelined by the political process.

We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

By Mia Gingerich | WASHINGTON – The Daily Wire announced the launch of a new “men’s lifestyle” company named Responsible Man on May 1, promoting its only current product — a men’s dietary supplement that it says is “designed to help … sharpen brain cognition” and that it suggests will help address what the outlet calls the “increasing health risk” of declining “sperm concentration.”

On April 30, The Daily Wire’s parent company Bentkey Ventures registered the assumed name “Daily Wire Ventures.” The next day, on May 1, it debuted Responsible Man, a new company for men’s health products. 

The Daily Wire is promoting Responsible Man as an alternative to “woke” companies and by fearmongering about some of the outlet’s frequent targets, namely gender-affirming care and drag queens, asking its readers, “Do you want to buy your men’s health products from a company that partners with drag queens and supports radical organizations that push gender procedures on children?” Responsible Man’s website uses similar language, promising its customers that “together, we can reclaim masculinity” and claiming that “Emerson’s Vitamins are a simple step towards improving yourself, creating order, and building the future.”

Ad from Responsible Man’s website:

The Daily Wire’s promotion suggests Responsible Man’s products can help address various health issues, including the purported “increasing health risk” of declining “sperm concentration” worldwide, promising to help men stay healthy “for the survival of the human race.” 

The company’s only product, a men’s multivitamin, is marketed as being “professionally engineered by medical doctors” to “support your immune system, maintain energy production, sharpen brain cognition, and support the health of your heart and muscles.” 

Claims made by The Daily Wire’s new company are not FDA-approved

According to disclaimers on Responsible Man’s website, the claims made to promote the company’s vitamins “have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.” Multivitamins do not need to go through an evaluation process prior to entering the marketplace, and have generally proved ineffective in reducing the risk of heart disease and mental decline. 

In the past, The Daily Wire has targeted certain medications used in gender-affirming care for trans youth for their use off-label without FDA approval, even though this is a common practice in prescribing pediatric medications. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh has been particularly fervent in wielding this point to target gender-affirming care. 

The Daily Wire is promoting the new company by targeting Men’s Health magazine

The Daily Wire’s previous ventures into consumer goods have been framed in opposition to specific companies it deemed too “woke,” such as Harry’s Razors and Hershey’s Chocolate, for refusing to advertise with The Daily Wire and featuring a trans woman in an advertisement, respectively. (Jeremy’s Razors and Jeremy’s Chocolate, The Daily Wire’s answers to Harry’s and Hershey’s going “woke,” have received poor feedback from customers.)

The Daily Wire’s promotion of Responsible Man singles out for criticism Men’s Health, the largest men’s lifestyle magazine in the United States. Claiming that Men’s Health was “afraid of manhood itself,” The Daily Wire has declared itself “here to give you a better option.” The lone source of outrage cited by the outlet is a Men’s Health article from November 2021 on “LGBTQ+ Language and Media Literacy.” 

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Mia Gingerich is a researcher at Media Matters. She has a bachelor’s degree in politics and government from Northern Arizona University and has previously worked in rural organizing and local media.

The preceding article was previously published by Media Matters for America and is republished by permission.

By Erin Reed | JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi’s legislature passed a transgender bathroom ban that applies to all college campuses in the state. News of the bill’s passage came just after it appeared the bill had failed to meet deadlines, but Republicans voted to suspend the rules in order to pass it.

The bill bans transgender people from using bathrooms and changing rooms that match their gender identity on college campuses, and even allows cisgender people to sue transgender people who are found in bathrooms forbidden by the law. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk, who is likely to sign it into law.

The bill is Senate Bill 2753, and it applies to all “public education buildings,” which include public schools and colleges, and any facilities owned or operated by them. It also applies to fraternities and sororities, which may have been included after a transgender girl won the right to stay in her sorority in Wyoming. It specifies that even dormitories must discriminate against transgender people in “single-sex educational housing spaces.”

Lastly, it offers a “private right of action” that appears to be targeted at transgender people, allowing cisgender people to sue to prevent transgender people from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, according to local news.

You can see the provision here:

This portion of the bill was a significant source of controversy during debate. Earlier versions of the bill explicitly allowed lawsuits for “compensatory damages,” although that provision was removed in the final conference committee for the bill. In its place is a scaled-down version of the private enforcement provisions, which leaves the question of enforcement uncertain when it comes to targeting transgender people individually. The bill also allows the state Attorney General of Mississippi to enforce the law against educational institutions.

Over the last year, more bathroom bans targeting transgender people have been enacted following Florida’s bathroom ban, which remains the harshest in the nation with criminal penalties of up to one year in jail. Kansas, North Dakota, and Utah also have bathroom bans. Utah’s ban targets all government buildings, including the airport, with enforcement depending on allegations of behavior that “causes affront or alarm.” In Kansas and North Dakota, there is no enforcement mechanism. Other states are also considering bathroom bans, such as Ohio, which has slowly progressed a bill similar to Mississippi’s higher education bathroom ban.

Mississippi has consistently been one of the harshest states toward transgender people. The state has already passed a gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth and a sports ban. Last year, students at one school in Mississippi were forced to wear clothing of their assigned sex at birth for graduation, resulting in both a transgender girl and a cisgender nonconforming girl being barred from walking at their own graduation after a judge sided with the school. This bill will only increase the danger for transgender residents and those who travel through the state.

Although the bill likely runs afoul of Title IX protections, Mississippi is among the states suing the federal government for the right to discriminate against trans people.

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Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.

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The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Between 200 and 250 people, including parents and their children, turned out on Saturday, May 4, for a “Love Fest” Drag Story Hour brunch hosted by the Arlington, Va., LGBTQ establishment Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant.

Local drag performer Tara Hoot, who read children’s stories and handed out coloring books to the kids attending the event, was joined by members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which sang several songs before Hoot began reading from children’s books in keeping with the tradition of drag queens conducting Drag Story Hour events across the country.

The May 4 event at Freddie’s in the Crystal City section of Arlington took place four weeks after the start of a similar event hosted by Freddie’s was delayed by a bomb threat, forcing those who had arrived  to exit through a rear door and wait in a parking lot as Arlington police conducted a search of the premises with a bomb sniffing dog. No trace of a bomb was found.

All the customers, including parents and their kids, were invited back inside and the show took place as planned.

No similar threat occurred at the May 4 event. But three male protesters assembled on the sidewalk next to the parking lot behind the Freddie’s building, with one of them shouting from a bullhorn passages from his Bible that he said indicated the Drag Story Hour event was an “abomination.”

The three protesters were outnumbered by nearly a dozen counter protesters who were  members of the Rainbow Defense Coalition, an LGBTQ organization. They carried bright, rainbow-colored umbrellas while chanting messages of support for the Drag Story Hour event.

Freddie Lutz, Freddie’s Beach Bar owner, called the event a “smashing success” that brought an “outpouring of love from the community.” Lutz released a flier on social media promoting the Love Fest event shortly after the earlier event interrupted by the bomb threat as a showing of love “to stop the hate.”

“Join us for the next story time brunch dressed in your favorite rainbow/hippie outfit” and “carry your favorite homemade signs of support,” Lutz said in his promotional flier. He came to the event dressed in what he called his hippie protest outfit.

Lutz said while the protesters did not interrupt the event, he was concerned that their shouting was scaring some of the kids as they and their parents walked by the protesters to enter Freddie’s.

“I went out back and tried to talk to one of them and it was kind of like talking to a brick wall,” Lutz told the Washington Blade. “He was screaming at the parents that were crossing their kids on the crosswalk,” Lutz said. “And I said, you’re screaming at those kids, you’re scaring them.”

Lutz said the man told him he was yelling at the parents, not the kids. “And I said, no you’re not. The kids are hearing you. You’re scaring them.”

Added Lutz, “And to have such a fun-loving, happy show and then walk out on the sidewalk to that is very disheartening. It’s really sad. I told him my God is a forgiving and loving God.”

One of the protesters, who declined to disclose his name, said he and his two fellow protesters came to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

“We want them to know this is an abomination to the Lord,” he told the Blade. “We want them to know those children don’t have a voice and they’re being brainwashed in there. We’re here to call out their sin.”

Stephanie Krenrich, who brought her two-year-old daughter to the event, said she strongly disputes the claims of the protesters.

“I brought my daughter here because I think that it was a beautiful and wonderful show, and it was great for her,” she said. “And I think it’s pretty offensive when people come to Arlington and tell parents what to do, especially for something so beautiful and so fun and so wholesome,” she told the Blade.

“So that’s why I brought her,” Krenrich said. “I think that it’s really important that we stand up for our values and people just being themselves, being happy and being them.”

Among those who attended the event were four elected officials from Arlington – Virginia State Sen. Barbara Favola, Virginia State Del. Adele McClure, Arlington County Board member Maureen Coffee, and Arlington and Falls Church State’s Attorney Parisa Dehgani-Tafti.

Also attending was Nick Benton, editor and publisher of the LGBTQ supportive Falls Church, Va., News Press; and Kellen McBeth, president of the LGBTQ group Equality Arlington.

“It was fantastic to see so many people come out to support Freddie’s, to support the LGBTQ+ community,” McBeth said. “It was a great event and we’re happy to be a part of it.”

Related:

RUSSIA

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia’s largest publishing houses working in concert with the country’s libraries and book sellers formed an advisory union body earlier this month to address the increasingly repressive nature of laws centered around the subject matters of LGBTQ+ people and the war in Ukraine.

Making the task difficult is removal of materials from classic Russian literature in addition to contemporary works. Russian media outlet Vedomosti business daily reported that The Russian Book Union’s self-labeled expert center will issue recommendations on individual books, but leave the final decision to pull the books from sale up to the publishers.

According to Vedomosti, AST, one of Russia’s largest publishers, announced earlier this week that it would suspend sales of three books by U.S. authors James Baldwin and Michael Cunningham, as well as the Russian postmodern writer Vladimir Sorokin, for allegedly containing “LGBTQ propaganda,” which is now outlawed in the country.

Roberto Carnero, an Italian literature professor at the University of Bologna’s biographical book on the openly gay Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini had been heavily edited with some 70 out of its 400 pages containing sections that were redacted by its Russian publisher Reuters reported last week.

According to Carnero, speaking with the wire service, that publisher also AST, would only agree to publish his critical essay on the openly gay Pasolini only with severe cuts.

“I am very concerned about this,” he said in a phone interview from Milan. “This is something that happens in dictatorships.”

The striking images of Carnero’s book have thrown a spotlight on issues of government censorship in Russia at a time when the Kremlin says it is fighting an existential war with the West to defend its “traditional values,” Reuters noted.

English language media outlet The Moscow Times reported that Russian law allows citations for scientific, educational and critical purposes. If brought to court, Russian publishers would be forced to prove that they retold an unlicensed book for purposes that do not include entertainment.

Russian law firms say publishers risk being hit by lawsuits and fined double the value of books sold if their summaries hew too close to the original text.

LITHUANIA

VILNIUS, Lithuania – A singer-songwriter who has been entertaining audiences since he was 12-years-old is now the first openly queer person to represent Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

Silvester Belthe in 2010 had been a finalist in Lithuania’s preselection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest that year and now he returns 14 years later at age 26 taking the contest by storm.

A veteran of the musical variety contest show circuit, he competed on the Lithuanian version of The X Factor, and the Baltic TV3 Group’s music show Aš – superhitas, which he won in 2017.

PinkNewsUK reported Eurovision 2024 marks Belthe’s biggest career move to-date, and so far, it’s going well. His song, hypnotic eurobanger “Luktelk”, has hit over five million Spotify streams worldwide. In Lithuania, it hit number on the charts and stayed there for several weeks.

In an interview with PinkNewsUK when asked about LGBTQ+ representation in his homeland’s music scene. he responded: “Zero. It’s nada. It’s non-existent,” says Belt. “Everyone is pretending to be what they’re not, and it pisses me off so much.”

Eurovision has been supportive of LGBTQ+ musical artists for decades, but Lithuania has never sent an out artist to the contest. According to Belthe there is a culture of fear among Lithuanian artists about being seen as queer, as they feel there is “so much at stake” and that they could “lose [their] career” if they were to ever come out he noted.

The main reason he is frustrated by the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in his country he tells PinkNewsUK is that he thinks it would change the population’s mindset. Six in ten Lithuanians still believe that same-sex relationships are “wrong.”

“If every single LGBTQ artist in Lithuania, not even artists, if everyone [would] come out, I feel like Lithuania would change in a day,” he says. “It’s just crazy that we have this massive elephant in the room and we’re just pretending it’s not there.”

UNITED KINGDOM

LONDON, UK – At the end of last month Deputy Foreign Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, announced sanctions on high profile Ugandan politicians charged with corruption, and the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda.

It is the first time the UK government has used the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regime on individuals involved in corruption in Uganda.  

The three individuals, two of whom were previously ministers responsible for Uganda’s poorest region, Karamoja, and have been charged with corruption at Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Court, will be subject to travel bans and asset freezes. 

The two former ministers sanctioned – Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu – stole thousands of iron sheets used for roofing and infrastructure from a Ugandan government-funded project aimed at housing some of the most vulnerable communities in the region, providing them to prominent politicians and their families instead.

The Speaker of the Parliament, Anita Annet Among, benefited from the proceeds.

Over 60% of people in Karamoja live in poverty and many suffer from the devastating impacts of drought and insecurity.

 The Deputy Foreign Secretary said in a media statement:  

“The actions of these individuals, in taking aid from those who need it most, and keeping the proceeds, is corruption at its worst and has no place in society. The Ugandan courts are rightly taking action to crack down on those politicians who seek to line their own pockets at their constituents’ expense.”

“Today the UK is sending a clear message to those who think benefiting at the expense of others is acceptable. Corruption has consequences and you will be held responsible,” Mitchell added.

 The three individuals sanctioned were:  

• Anita Annet Among, who has been the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda since 2022.
• Mary Goretti Kitutu, who was the Minister for Karamoja Affairs between 2021 and 2024.
• Agnes Nandutu, who was the State Minister for Karamoja Affairs between 2021 and 2024.  

These measures follow previous UK sanctions under the Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime, which has targeted individuals involved in serious corruption cases across the world, including Bulgaria, Lebanon, Moldova, Russia, South Africa, South Sudan, and Venezuela. 

Since its introduction in April 2021, the UK has introduced sanctions on 42 individuals and entities under this regime globally to combat corruption across the world. 

MAIDENHEAD, UK – A fully inclusive rugby club – with the majority of their members being part of Berkshire, England’s LGBTQ+ community, competes against other inclusive teams from across the world.

Recently the club won the International Gay Rugby (IGR) UK league for the first time in their seven year history. John Hamp, the tighthead prop- one of the three players who form the front row of the scrum, told the BBC that being part of an LGBTQ+ inclusive club meant “You don’t have to hide any part of yourself.”

“With any inclusive rugby team, the need is that there are people who really enjoy rugby and really enjoy the sport, but haven’t necessarily found their home in a traditional club setup,” Hamp said.

“We provide a home and a welcoming environment where anyone and everyone can come and learn the sport,” he added.

Hamp, who is also the teams’ communications manager, told the BBC an inclusive club meant “regardless of any of your defining features or characteristics, especially for us that includes a sexual orientation, you can join our club and find a safe and welcoming environment – somewhere that you can be yourself.”

“I have a rugby family, and I tried as a child, and it just didn’t feel right for me – I knew that I was a bit different, I think other people knew that I felt different, and it didn’t feel comfortable for me,” he said.

“Sadly my my father passed away and I needed to do something; I needed something different – there was a need to be with community that understood me and a connection that I wanted to get back involved in rugby.”

“So I found the unicorns, and it was the perfect marriage of those two things.”

The club was founded in 2016 – and has grown in size to over 50 playing and social members. This season, the team went unbeaten – scoring over 400 points across their 11 games in the process.

NORTHERN IRELAND

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – For the first time in the 132 history of the largely ceremonial role of Lord Mayor of the City of Belfast, an openly gay man has been chosen. Micky Murray, an Alliance Party councilor [city councilman] representing the Balmoral area was selected to succeed the outgoing Sinn Féin Party’s Ryan Murphy in June.

On his X (formerly Twitter) Murray stated: “It’s truly an honour to have been selected by my party to be the next Lord Mayor of Belfast in June. This is a significant moment for the LGBTQ+ community, as I step into a role which has never represented us before. I look forward to getting stuck in!”

The 32-year-old politico in an interview with LGBTQ+ media outlet GCN Ireland said:

“In my role as Lord Mayor I want to meet people in all areas of Belfast and recognise those who are making a difference in every quarter, finding ways to work alongside them for the better.

He added: “Supporting the most vulnerable is a priority of mine, and I want to use my experience working in the homeless sector to ensure our city does more to help people.

“I want to help transform Belfast into a more inclusive city where everyone can enjoy, regardless of who you are or where you’re from. We’re 26 years on from the Good Friday Agreement and we were promised peace, which has largely been delivered, but now is the time to further break down barriers and create a thriving city.

“Our city should be recognised for its inclusivity, rather than its division. As the first openly gay Lord Mayor, I want to use this platform to represent the LGBTQ+ community and be a positive role model for them.”

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph Murray said: “As a schoolboy who was badly bullied because of my sexuality, I never thought I’d have the privilege of serving in a role like this.”

The councillor continued: “The position of Lord Mayor has existed for over 130 years, and I’ll be the first openly LGBTQ person to hold it. It’s a huge honour for me personally to be given this opportunity by my party colleagues.

“While some people may question why my sexuality is relevant, it does matter for members of my community. We are finally represented in a role we’ve never been before. It’s imbued with symbolism.”

IRELAND

DROGHEDA, Ireland – Pride is back again this year for this industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 26 miles north of Dublin. The four-day festival which kicks off on July 18, will include live musical performances, dance parties, film screenings, and family-friendly events.

This year’s event promises to be a fantastic experience, with preparation well underway and organizer Peter James Nugent told LGBTQ+ media outlet GCN Ireland. Nugent is working on the four-day festival, which will include live music performances, dance parties, film screenings, and family-friendly events.

This year’s Pride Parade will take place on Saturday, July 20. Following the parade, talented local musical artist Kobrah Kage will headline the main event with a highly-anticipated performance.

GCN also reported that Festival organizers are also calling upon anyone with a talent, be it a drag queen, a singer, a dancer, or any other talent, to apply to be a part of the 2024 fantastic event. This is a great opportunity for the local community to showcase their support and join in the celebrations. A complete listing of events is available on Drogheda Pride’s socials and their website.

Additional reporting from the BBC, PinkNewsUK, The Moscow Times, Agence France-Presse the Belfast Telegraph and GCN Ireland.

LOS ANGELES – In a lawsuit filed in Superior Court Friday, the 25-year-old who rushed comedian Dave Chappelle on stage at the Hollywood Bowl during Chappelle’s set during the “Netflix is a Joke” festival on May 3, 2022, is suing the venue’s operator’s, The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, along with its security company.

According to the court documents reported on by KABC 7 Eyewitness News, Isaiah Lee, the man who attacked the comedian alleges that the Bowl’s security guards and members of Chappelle’s entourage beat Lee “ruthlessly” when he rushed the stage.

KABC 7 noted that Lee, who identifies as bisexual, “became upset by the discriminatory nature” of Chappelle’s jokes that night and “rushed the stage in protest as the show ended,” the lawsuit read.

Lee also claims that the security team for the Hollywood Bowl failed to protect him from Chappelle’s entourage: “These individuals spat on Lee and dislocated his arm intentionally,” the lawsuit alleges.

Chappelle was attacked by Lee who also had a plastic replica of a gun that shoots forth a knife blade on him, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

After regaining his composure, Chappelle joked that the attacker “was a trans man,” a reference to the comic’s controversy within the LGBTQ+ communities.

Chappelle, beloved by many for his clever television program Chappelle’s Show, has long been a controversial figure to the LGBTQ+ communities. Following the premiere of his Netflix The Closer, which featured insensitive cracks about trans women’s genitalia and TERFs (or trans-exclusionary radical feminists), among other topics, several trans employees of Netflix staged a walkout.

Additionally, trans comedians told CNN they felt that the comments were an example of “punching down” on those with less power and a betrayal of the astute social commentary for which Chappelle is known. Chappelle eventually agreed to meet with members of the community to discuss the tenor of his jokes about trans people.

Los Angeles County prosecutors opted to not charge Lee with a felony instead with misdemeanor charges of battery, possession of a weapon with intent to assault, unauthorized access to the stage area during a performance and commission of an act that delays an event or interferes with a performer.

After Lee’s attorneys cited homelessness and mental illness, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted Lee a mental health diversion, thus waiving his speedy trial rights for two years after he entered a not-guilty plea.  He was sentenced to 270 days in jail and after serving his time was conditionally released to Lake Hughes Recovery Center in Gorman, California.

Related:

By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | PHOENIX, Ariz. – A Glendale Republican lawmaker who was present for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and is facing criminal charges for being a fake elector used legislative video equipment to appear on a far-right talk show this week with a host who has declared Adolf Hitler a “hero.” 

On May 1, Sen. Anthony Kern appeared on the Stew Peters show to discuss a Drag Story Hour that was hosted the day before in a basement meeting room in the Arizona House of Representatives. Kern joined the show live on video from the state Senate, which has a video broadcast studio.

The April 30 drag event in the House was hosted by Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa, the nation’s first nonbinary Chicane legislator. When Republicans, who have spent the last several years crusading against drag and the LGBTQ community, learned about the event, it sparked an outcry. 

Kern was the first to post about the event, and he specifically called out his GOP primary opponent for Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District, House Speaker Ben Toma, for allowing the event to take place. 

On Peters’ show, Kern said he thought taxpayers would be outraged at the event for legislators and their staff.

“I said, ‘Hey, Arizona, this is where your tax dollars are going,’” Kern told Peters, appearing from the broadcast filming room on the Senate’s first floor used by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to film videos. 

Peters, a conspiracy theorist, has been increasingly showcasing antisemitism on his social media profiles and on his show. In promotional material, Peters has praised the mass book burning conducted by the Nazis in the lead up to World War II. 

“They did exactly what reasonable people would do if given the opportunity,” Peters said of the Nazi book burnings. The video featured a montage of antisemitic propaganda created by Nazi Germany. 

Peters praised Kern and made the false claim that the drag event in the House included children, calling the drag king that spoke to the small group Tuesday a “mentally ill satanic pedophile.” The event did not include children and Kern did not push back on any of Peters’ claims. 

Peters attacked Toma, implying that the lawmaker could be a “pedohile” or a “groomer,” a term used frequently by anti-LGBTQ extremists to attack the LGBTQ community. The attention from conservative activists towards drag story hours has led to physical attacks on members of that community as well as other threats of violence.  

“Is Ben Toma a pedophile? Is he a groomer?” Peters said on his show before Kern came on to speak. “He’s either incompetent or he is with the pedophiles. It is only one or the other.”

Neither Kern nor a Senate spokeswoman responded to multiple requests for comment. The Capitol broadcast team, who is in charge of the equipment, referred the Arizona Mirror’s inquiry to the Senate spokeswoman, Kim Quintero. 

“I don’t know what to say other than Kern is irrelevant and will continue to be irrelevant in this race,” Toma told the Mirror. “He is not important enough for me to reply.” 

Toma added that any decision on looking into if Kern inappropriately used Senate resources would be up to Senate President Warren Petersen. Toma also defended his position against the use of the Capitol basement for a drag story hour this week. 

“I became aware of it fairly late, and it was already ongoing by the time I became aware of it,” Toma said, adding that he went in person to confirm the event was taking place Tuesday. “It wasn’t approved for that use. The use was supposed to be a stakeholder meeting.” 

Democratic lawmakers have contended that they told Toma’s office that they intended to host the Drag Story Hour event when they reserved the room. 

During the interview, Kern said that churches and Christians need to “rise up” as a remedy to fix the country’s problems. 

“It is time for battle. This is our 1776 moment…We have to rise up and get our country back,” Kern said, adding that he believed God appointed Donald Trump to be president. 

GOP punish Dems over ‘drag story hour’ in AZ House basement.

Kern, who was recently indicted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for his role in Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme, sparked controversy last month when he invited members of his church to pray and speak in tongues on the Senate floor ahead of key votes on abortion. 

The move garnered national media attention, and Kern complained about it to Peters. 

“So I led a prayer group down at the Capitol. Somebody filmed it. Somebody tweeted it out,” Kern said, adding that the media went “beserk.” 

“While at the same time they can allow pedophiles, they can allow perverts, they can allow men dressed up as women, and just a perv show in the basement of our (House of) Representatives, and nothing from the media,” Kern said. 

Kern, who was present at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, said that God was “raising up” people like himself, Peters and Trump. He encouraged Peters’ viewers to get involved and for churches to “rise up.” Peters responded that his viewers need to organize militias. 

“I’m talking about organizing with your neighbors in a militia format,” Peters said as Kern nodded in agreement. “Then advising, not asking permission, but advising your sheriff and advising your DA of exactly what you are willing to do to protect your life, your liberty and your property.” 

Peters has called for violence at the U.S.-Mexico border, used racist terminology and has spoken at a white nationalist conference.  

“I believe it has been inappropriate and irresponsible to vilify the LGBTQ+ community for extremist, cheap political points,” Austin said in a statement to the Mirror. “We are tired of fighting the battle to simply exist.”

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Reporter Jerod MacDonald-Evoy joined the Arizona Mirror from the Arizona Republic, where he spent 4 years covering everything from dark money in politics to Catholic priest sexual abuse scandals. He brings strong watchdog sensibilities and creative storytelling skills to the Arizona Mirror.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Arizona Mirror and is republished with permission.

Amplifying the voices of Arizonans whose stories are unheard; shining a light on the relationships between people, power and policy; and holding public officials to account.

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

By Zach Wendling | LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Friday announced he is joining a handful of states in planning to defy new Title IX rules from the Biden administration set to take effect in August.

Pillen, in a Friday news release, said the “rewrite of Title IX is an affront to the common sense idea that men do not belong in women’s only spaces” and is a “direct attack” on the Women’s Bill of Rights that he established by executive order last August. Under that order, state agencies, boards and commissions must define someone’s sex as male or female at birth.

Title IX, a 1972 rule, prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. The changes explicitly protect gender identity and sexual orientation.

Pillen on Friday said Nebraska “must fight against radical gender ideology and vigorously protect the rights of Nebraska women and girls.”

“Protecting our kids and women’s athletics is my duty,” Pillen said in a statement. “The president’s new rules threaten the safety of women and their right to participate in women’s sports. Nebraska will not comply.”

Under Pillen’s Women’s Bill of Rights, a “female” is defined as someone whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova; a “male” is someone whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female.

At least 15 states are suing over the final Title IX rule, but not Nebraska. Governors and state education chiefs in at least six states — Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, South Carolina and Oklahoma — have also directed districts to defy the rule.

The U.S. Department of Education has said states not in compliance with Title IX risk losing federal funding.

The revised Title IX guidelines, to which the U.S. Department of Education has given final approval, are scheduled to take effect Aug. 1. 

LGBTQ students who face discrimination would be entitled to a response from their school under Title IX, allowing recourse from the federal government when schools do not do so.

The revisions also reverse many changes led by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that added new protections for students accused of sexual misconduct, which currently require such conduct to be “severe, pervasive and objectively offensive.”

Colleges will also not be required to hold live hearings to allow students to cross-examine one another through representatives.

The new regulations do not include a planned provision to prevent schools from categorically banning transgender student-athletes from sporting teams.

Nebraska lawmakers fell two votes short of advancing legislation this year that would have done just that. The introducer, State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, has said she intends to try again next year, a plan that she has said could involve Pillen’s Women’s Bill of Rights.

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Zach rejoins the Nebraska Examiner after studying abroad in Antigua, Guatemala, following a yearlong Examiner internship. His coverage focus areas have included politics and government, health and well-being and higher education.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Nebraska Examiner and is republished with permission.

Nebraskans want accountability from their elected officials and government. They want to know whether their tax dollars are being well-spent, whether state agencies and local governments are responsive to the people and whether officials, programs and policies are working for the common good. The Nebraska Examiner is a nonprofit, independent news source committed to providing news, scoops and reports important to our state.

We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MONROE, N.C. – Tensions in this small city of 34,551 people, 39 miles southeast of Charlotte, over a local diner and restaurant’s drag shows have escalated from sidewalk protests into dueling lawsuits inside a federal courthouse.

Located within the rapidly growing Charlotte metropolitan area, the East Frank Superette and Kitchen on East Franklin Street in downtown Monroe has been hosting popular all-ages drag brunch shows. Then early 2022, a small group residents began posting negative comments about the events online alleging restaurant was condoning inappropriate and sexualized performances that minors should not be exposed to.

The online argument then morphed into protesters showing up every time an East Frank drag event was held. The restaurant’s co-owners, Robert Huffman and Carley Englander told North Carolina Public Radio they began hosting drag bingo nights and occasional drag brunches in early 2021, when many local businesses were reopening as COVID-19 restrictions eased.

Holding signs that read “Stop Grooming Children,” “This Is Child Abuse” and “Stop Sexualizing Children,” the anti-drag-anti-LGBTQ+ group demonstrating in front of the restaurant, ranging from seven to 25 people included then-candidate and now Monroe city mayor, Robert Burns. Burns won the election by a coin toss after a rare tied vote in 2023.

NCPR reported that in a September Facebook Live video streamed from outside the restaurant Burns said: “They’re exposing our children to this nonsense, and it needs to stop. We need to end what’s going on,” he added, “[…] you are sexualizing our children here in Monroe, and people are waking up to that.”

Huffman and Englander said they were shocked by the vitriol and opposition and didn’t believe the protesters’ arguments had merit.

“We don’t regard (drag) as something that’s lewd or sexual in any regard,” Huffman said. “It never crossed our minds that people would think that or make that argument about it.”

Huffman and Englander also stated that minors were only admitted to drag shows if they were accompanied by a parent or guardian, and the vast majority of people who attended were adults.

“Just a few folks would bring their kids here and there,” Huffman said. “So this whole kerfuffle is over, like, four kids.”

Huffman and Englander said they received online threats, protesters crowded the entrance, held signs in the windows, and took pictures and videos of patrons inside. At City Council meetings, angry anti-LGBTQ+ residents called on the city to shut down the performances entirely.

The battle over the drag shows escalated again when Huffman and Englander used pictures of the seven mainstay anti-drag protestors that regularly demonstrated and used their pictures, some taken from social media accounts, to parody for advertising.

NCPR reported that starting in March 2023, the restaurant began posting a series of advertisements on social media that included images of protesters holding digitally altered signs promoting the restaurant’s drag events and food specials.

According to Queen City News in Charlotte, in December 2023, several of the protesters sued the East Frank Superette and Kitchen after the restaurant pulled photos of them from their social media accounts and altered the images to use in ads for the restaurant’s drag brunches.

In a Federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Union County, North Carolina, residents Michelle Ball, Ted Toms, Sofia Chabot, Amelia Ball, Eliza Ball, Jessica Mullen, and Lisa Metzger claim the restaurant violated a state law banning wrongful appropriation of personal image and North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act by altering the photos to make them look like the protesters supported the events.

Signs that read “Stop Sexualizing Children” and “Stop Grooming Children” were changed to “Risk it on the Brisket … I did, and I loved it!” and “I am unable to mind my own business, and it only helps theirs!”

“It was done in jest, and in a satirical kind of way,” Huffman told NCPR. “Obviously, we don’t need their help selling hamburgers, and pretty much anyone in the community knows that they’re not our supporters. Really, it was just a joke, and they apparently can’t take one.”

“It got under their skin a lot more than we realized,” Huffman added.

In the court filing, Robert Sneed, an attorney for the anti-drag protestors, wrote that Ted Toms reportedly reached out to the restaurant demanding that the images be taken down and the restaurant continued to use unauthorized photos of Toms and others to promote the business and services.

“As a consequence of the Defendant’s outrageous actions and response to Plaintiffs’ rightful concerns and interests, Plaintiffs find it necessary to seek this court’s intervention to curtail Defendant’s unlawful activities and to obtain the legal and equitable remedies to which Plaintiffs are entitled,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that Huffman and Englander violated Section 43(a)(1)(A) of the Lanham Act, North Carolina’s privacy-based tort of Wrongful Appropriation of Personal Image, and North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Queen City News noted:

[The] Lanham Act: “Any person who, on or in connection with any…services…uses in commerce any…device…or any misdescription of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which…is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the…approval of his or her goods, services or commercial activities by another person…shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he or she is or is likely to be damaged by such act.”

Wrongful Appropriation of Personal Image: “This form of tortious activity includes the unauthorized appropriation of a person’s likeness in connection with an advertisement or commercial enterprise, i.e., for the defendant’s commercial advantage.”

Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act: “Constitute an unfair method of competition in or affecting commerce, or are unfair and deceptive acts or practices in and affecting commerce; and cause a likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding as to the sponsorship, approval, or association of East Frank’s business and services with each Plaintiff.”

The lawsuit states that the seven plaintiffs are asking that the Monroe restaurant stop using their images for advertising, take down all altered photos that have been used in the past, a public apology, and monetary remedies among other requests.

Last month, Huffman and Englander countersued the protesters for defamation. In an April 12 filing, the pair are alleging the protesters “routinely and regularly accused East Frank — a restaurant that, from time to time, hosts drag performances — of child abuse, child sexual exploitation, and child grooming.”

Those “knowingly false accusations have damaged East Frank’s reputation, cost East Frank substantial profits, and worst of all, have exposed East Frank, its customers, and the drag performers it hosts, to threats of violence,” according to the countersuit.

Both lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina & have hearing dates yet to be scheduled.

By Mike Pingel WEST HOLLYWOOD – West Hollywood Business License Commissioner Danny Hang is throwing his hat in the ring in the race for two open seats for West Hollywood City Council in the November 5, 2024 General Municipal Election.

Hang is a Southern California native who was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. He is the proud son of Chinese-Vietnamese refugees who fled the Vietnam War in search of hope, freedom, and the American dream.

The son of a union worker, Hang saw firsthand how his father worked long hours as a machinist and became a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 725. Hang is a passionate advocate of professional growth and vocational equity. He believes that workers are the backbone of the most powerful economy in the world, and deserve a fair and equitable wage. Because when workers succeed, then EVERYONE succeeds.

As the son of an immigrant small business owner, Hang watched his mom’s nail salon succeed and slowly serve as an equalizer leading to a pathway to the American middle class for his family. He knows firsthand that small businesses are vital to creating local jobs and growing the West Hollywood economy. Immigrant-owned small businesses are centerpieces of their neighborhoods, and they contribute in a meaningful way to the diversity and vibrancy of the West Hollywood community. As such, Hang recognizes the economic and community oriented success that West Hollywood’s thriving Russian speaking community has continued to achieve throughout the years.

A first-generation college graduate, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University and kicked off his career in public service at the Social Security Administration, where he adjudicated Supplemental Security Income benefits for people with disabilities and older adults.​

Having fueled his passion for serving others, he returned to school to pursue a double master’s in Social Work and Gerontology from the University of Southern California. Hang now works in disability retirement for the county of Los Angeles.

His involvement with the community led to his appointment as an at-large member of the West Hollywood Disabilities Advisory Board. He worked hard to address issues affecting people with disabilities, including ADA compliance, transportation, housing, and access to City government and services for people with disabilities.

He was later appointed to the West Hollywood Business License Commission. Additionally, he was also appointed as an alternate member of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation by the State Bar Board of Trustees and he serves on the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Asian American & Pacific Islander Advisory Board. He also served on the Executive Board for Asian Democrats of Los Angeles County.

Hang is a proud member of the West Hollywood community where he resides with his cat Piper. His focus is on improving the community through servant leadership.

The Nomination Period for the November 5, 2024 General Municipal Election begins on Monday, July 15 and continues until Friday, August 9 at 5:00 p.m. The City Clerk’s Office will begin taking appointments to pull Nomination Papers on Monday, July 8.

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Mike Pingel has written six books, Channel Surfing: Charlie’s Angels & Angelic Heaven: A Fan’s Guide to Charlie’s Angels, Channel Surfing: Wonder Woman, The Brady Bunch: Super Groovy after all these years; Works of Pingel and most recently, Betty White: Rules the World. Pingel owns and runs CharliesAngels.com website and was Farrah Fawcett personal assistant. He also works as an actor and as a freelance publicist.

His official website is www.mikepingel.com

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The preceding article was previously published by WeHo Times and is republished with permission.