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☆ NYC honors historic gay bar with landmark status
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

One of the earliest sites of gay rights activism is officially New York City’s newest landmark. Located at 159 West 10th St., just a short walk from fellow historic gay bar Stonewall Inn, Julius’ has been open since the 1860s. It started attracting gay patrons in the mid-20th century, and, according to the conservation nonprofit group Village Preservation, it’s the city’s oldest existing gay bar. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 for its significance in the gay rights movement. A photo of the moment went down in gay rights history.

☆ Brick thrown at an NYC gay bar is being investigated as a hate crime
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

One of New York City's newest gay bars has had a brick thrown at its front window four times in recent weeks, its owner says. The latest incident, just this past weekend, is being investigated as a hate crime, the New York Police Department confirmed. The brick didn’t completely shatter the glass, and a department spokesperson said in an email no one was injured. The first attack occurred on Oct. 20, and DeParolesa said the bar didn’t report it because it happened after hours. The NYPD confirmed a similar incident occurred two days later, and again this weekend.

☆ Live updates: Suspect in Colorado Springs LGBTQ club shooting charged with 5 counts of first-degree murder
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( David K. Li | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kahlan-Rosenblatt.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

Colorado Springs, a mostly conservative city of about half a million people, sits about 70 miles south from the more progressive Denver. Poet James Davis "proudly named [the book] after a gay bar in Colorado Springs," according to his website. In the poem entitled "Club Q," Davis describes the emotion and the feeling of finally belonging in a place. “Club Q is in shock, and in deep mourning, with the family and friends who had loved ones senselessly taken from them. Mother identifies son as Club Q shooting victim: 'It's just a nightmare’ Nov. 21, 2022 00:54 Aston, a transgender man who worked at Club Q as a bartender, was one of the five people killed at the venue on Saturday.

☆ Over a decade after founding Grindr, Joel Simkhai wants a do-over
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

When Joel Simkhai left Grindr five years ago, he had a lot of time to think. Simkhai, a gay man and tech entrepreneur, helped launch the groundbreaking gay hookup and dating app in 2009. As recently as this year, the average daily time spent on Grindr per user was about an hour, according to The Guardian. The results of an online survey of nearly 100 Grindr users published in 2017 in the peer-reviewed journal Behavioral Medicine showed obese users reported significantly greater feelings of body dissatisfaction. But racist, discriminatory and exclusionist tropes — or euphemisms for them — continue to pervade a number of LGBTQ hookup and dating apps.

☆ Texas GOP looks to restrict transgender health care and drag shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Texas Republicans introduced several bills this week that target the transgender community, including at least two measures seeking to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors and one bill looking to prevent children from attending drag performances. For minors, this type of care typically includes puberty blockers, which are recommended to trans youths before the onset of puberty, or hormone therapy for teenagers. The Texas bills come on the heels of a previous attempt this year by the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, to deem transition-related care for minors as child abuse under state law. Greg Abbott, the state’s Republican governor, subsequently called on citizens to report parents of transgender minors to the state if they suspect these minors are receiving gender-affirming care. The state’s current definition of “sexually oriented businesses” includes any venue where two or more people perform nude and alcohol is served.

☆ Pentagon and Army sued over decades-old policy barring recruits with HIV
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

After a successful effort earlier this year to ease longstanding restrictions on service members living with HIV, LGBTQ rights advocates are now pushing for more change. They want to end the U.S. military’s decades-old policy of barring people with HIV from enlisting. Isaiah Wilkins, 23, tested positive for HIV while trying to join the Army Reserves. Lambda LegalThe lawsuit describes the ban on HIV-positive recruits as “incompatible” with modern medical advancements. Before the court ruling, U.S. military policy was to place restrictions on service members if they were diagnosed with HIV after they had successfully enlisted.

☆ Two Florida medical boards advance ban on gender-affirming care for minors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Florida’s state medical boards voted Friday afternoon to approve the language of a first-of-its-kind rule banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors who don’t already receive it. The rule updates the medical standards of practice in the state to mostly prohibit health care professionals from starting treatment for gender dysphoria in those younger than 18. Gender dysphoria refers the stress and discomfort some experience when their gender identity doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth. The measure bans the prescription of puberty blockers or hormone therapy to new patients who are minors, and it forbids gender-affirming surgeries. In a statement Friday, Equality Florida said once the rule goes into effect, it will be the only ban in the country of gender-affirming care for minors instituted by a state medical board.

☆ Kroger to pay $180K after firing workers who refused to wear logo allegedly resembling Pride flag
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Judge Lee Rudofsky, a district court judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas and a Donald Trump appointee, signed off on the settlement, which was reached after years of litigation. As part of the settlement, Kroger will pay the two employees more than $70,000 each in back pay, which is part of the overall $180,000 settlement. Court documents state that in late April 2019, the Conway store started requiring some of its employees to wear a new uniform adorned with a rainbow-colored heart. United States District Court Eastern District of Arkansas Central Division. After refusing to wear the uniforms for weeks, or trying to cover up the rainbow logo, court documents state, Rickerd and Lawson were fired in late May and early June, respectively.

☆ Queer fans mourn Leslie Jordan, a symbol of a 'lost generation' of gay men
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“When things really begin to change is when the social culture changes,” Biden said. By 1995, a tenth of the 1.6 million gay men ages 25 to 44 had died. Socialization among gay men and gay-centric networks, particularly in gay neighborhoods, has myriad political and social benefits. “For a lot of gay men from a certain generation, that was really hard to do without alcohol,” he said. In the same interview, DeGeneres thanked Jordan for coming on her show.

☆ Almost every Black officer at this Tennessee police department says they’ve experienced discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Almost all the 15 Black officers at the police department in Knoxville, Tennessee, have felt discriminated against, according to an external review of the department. Last year, the paper reported that department leadership had attempted to conceal an officer’s racist comments and deter a Black officer from making a complaint about the incident. “If you are a Black officer, you have to work five times harder, and officers will always second-guess you,” one anonymous officer says in the report. Black officers were also the least likely to say they felt there was a clear process for de-escalating problems internally. In recent years, amid many high-profile deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police, a significant number of Black officers have left some of the country’s largest departments.

☆ New York governor signs bill expanding assistance for LGBTQ seniors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Access to physical and mental health care, free or discounted meal deliveries, caregivers and other forms of support are now easier for LGBTQ seniors in New York state to get. The legislation requires the state’s Office for the Aging to consider gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and HIV status when it calculates which seniors need the most help. “This legislation is an important step in addressing those inequities while helping ensure LGBTQ older New Yorkers receive the same respect and support as anyone else in the state,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday. To address the disparities,Massachusetts, California and a number of other states have enacted laws in recent years expanding their interpretations of those with the “greatest social need” to include LGBTQ seniors and elders living with HIV. Tax said SAGE, which runs LGBTQ senior centers in New York City, has long been fighting for the change in New York.

☆ Former J. Crew chief Jenna Lyons to join 'Real Housewives of New York City' cast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Jenna Lyons, the New York City fashion designer who was famously outed by the New York Post over a decade ago, will join the cast of “The Real Housewives of New York City” next year for the show’s 14th season. Lyons will be the first queer housewife to join the franchise’s New York City series as one of its seven new cast members. Their romantic relationship was revealed by the New York Post after someone spotted Lyons and Crangi at a New York restaurant amid Lyons’ divorce. The New York Post was asking if she would like to confirm or deny that she was “seeing a woman,” they said. GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, praised the decision to cast Lyons.

☆ MacArthur fellow P. Gabrielle Foreman wants to make sure 'unremembered' Black history gets taught
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

That history, Foreman argues, has been largely erased from academic discussions and mainstream conversations. P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey, back row, and Denise Burgher, second from right, with their colleagues at Pennsylvania State University. “The Colored Conventions movement helps us to understand a history full of possibilities,” he said. Now, it has a massive interactive online archive and was the inspiration behind “The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century,” which was published last year. Amid widespread efforts to suppress teaching about race and racism in the U.S., Burgher said a greater and more accurate understanding of Black history is more important now than ever before.

☆ Man says LGBTQ people 'deserve death' at school board meeting in Arkansas
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A man was recorded on video Tuesday night saying LGBTQ people “deserve death” during a school board meeting in Arkansas where several anti-LGBTQ policies were passed. The video was recorded by a person attending the meeting and verified by NBC News. “While the Conway School Board appreciates the insight and perspectives given in these comments, the personal narratives of individual patrons do not represent the school district or school board’s feelings or stances on issues.”The school board approved anti-transgender policies and bans on two books with LGBTQ themes at the meeting. Minutes from a meeting last month show at least one board member agreed with challenges to remove the books. “Tonight the Conway School Board voted to ban books — and worse — to single out students for unfair treatment,” the group tweeted.

☆ University of Florida students protest against Ben Sasse’s anti-LGBTQ past
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Hundreds of University of Florida students held protests this week criticizing the anticipated appointment of Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., to lead the school. Sasse has said that as university president, he would do his best to represent the views of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students. But for some, his candidacy has called to mind the university’s anti-LGBTQ history and the extent to which many of them feel it continues to sideline their needs and experiences, four LGBTQ students told NBC News. The university’s LGBTQ+ Affairs office, for example, has a high staff turnover rate, he said. He said a “silver lining” of the protests was that many LGBTQ students made their concerns more widely known.

☆ Madonna baffles the internet with 'I'm Gay' TikTok video
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A viral video of gay icon Madonna appearing to suggest that she is gay herself has taken the internet by storm. During an interview on Andy Cohen’s talk show “Watch What Happens Live!” Mizrahi suggested Bernhard and Madonna at one point had a sexual relationship. “The gay community has been incredibly supportive of me,” she told Ellen DeGeneres during a 2010 interview in which she sounded the alarm about a rise in suicides among gay teenagers. Madonna’s video resembles another recent TikTok from actress Shay Mitchell, who played a lesbian in the teen drama “Pretty Little Liars,” in which Mitchell seems to come out as bisexual. Representatives for Madonna did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

☆ Pennsylvania school district created culture of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, complaint alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a federal complaint Thursday alleging one of the largest school districts in the state has created a widespread culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ students, particularly those who are transgender and nonbinary. The lawyers interviewed dozens of LGBTQ students and their parents, as well as current and former teachers and staff. The bullying forced some of them to miss school, and in 2019, a former transgender student attempted suicide, according to the complaint. Serving more than 18,000 students, Central Bucks drew national attention in 2021 as debates over pandemic policies gave way to larger culture-war clashes in the community. Amid a surge in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy in school boards across the country, Walczak said, the alleged circumstances at Central Bucks are not an isolated situation.

☆ Drastic pay inequities persist for Black and Latino NYC workers, especially women
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A new pay equity report from the New York City Council shows “persistent, large pay gaps” in the city’s municipal workforce, particularly among Black, Latino and white employees — a divide that gets worse when comparing men and women workers. Black city employees make just 71 cents on average for every dollar made by their white counterparts, according to the report, which was released Thursday. For Black women and Latinas, the gap is even larger, dropping to 69 cents for every dollar made by white male employees. On the whole, female city employees make 73 cents for every male dollar. Pay equity reports are mandated by a New York City law passed in 2019 that aimed to “find and eliminate” wage gaps in public employment.

☆ Gay meteorologist, allegedly fired for using adult webcam site, pleads for his job back
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

A gay meteorologist in New York City who was allegedly fired after someone sent nude webcam photos of him to his employer and to his mother is pleading for his job back and accusing the sender of revenge porn. He said he was not paid for his appearances on the site and apologized for taking part. “I unequivocally do not apologize for being sex-positive and for being myself — for being an openly gay man,” he said. Adame, 39, said he never spoke at work about his involvement with the website, which is owned by Unit 4 Media Ltd. New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher, who represents the Manhattan district where Spectrum NY1 is located, appears to agree.

☆ Group launches $10 million push to reach Asian American voters in battleground states
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The Asian American Power Network, a progressive advocacy group, has launched a $10 million effort to turn out Asian American voters in seven key battleground states ahead of the midterms. In the 2020 presidential election, the number of Asian Americans who voted in five battleground states was larger than the presidential margin of victory, according to the nonpartisan group Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, or APIAVote. Just over 40% of Asian American voters who spoke a language other than English at home said they would use voting assistance if it was available in their own language, the survey showed. The survey showed that the three most important issues to Asian American voters were health care, the economy and crime. Ramakrishnan said the combination of redistricting and Roe v. Wade’s reversal is adding to campaigns’ uncertainty about voter behavior in November, so Asian American voters could play a key role.

☆ Gay dating app Grindr names new CEO ahead of its public listing
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Grindr, the popular dating app used by millions of gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, on Tuesday named a new CEO who is scheduled to take the company public this fall with an ambitious $2.1 billion valuation. Arison will take over on Oct. 19 as Grindr prepares to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company. The Grindr app logo on a mobile phone screen. The current deal to take Grindr public, which is set to take place later this year, was made public in May. In addition to announcing a new CEO, Grindr also announced Tuesday that it will bring on a new chief financial officer, Vanna Krantz.

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