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☆ Despite Battle Over Politics, Florida Tourism Rolls On
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Tariro Mzezewa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At Disney World that day, you would never have known that the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the L.G.B.T.Q. organization Equality Florida had all recently issued warnings telling people to reconsider coming to Florida because of the policies of Gov. I had traveled to Florida in the wake of the N.A.A.C.P.’s advisory to see whether the warnings had any effect. In fact, several travelers said that they visited Disney and certain parts of Florida to get away from politics. “Coming to Disney, especially, is like entering a safe zone,” ‌‌Stephanie Kate Jones, who was visiting the park from Wales in the United Kingdom, told me.

Persons: Jean Franco Rivera’s, Ahmed, Luis, ‌ Jean Franco, Jean Franco’s, Ron DeSantis, Stephanie Kate Jones, ” Organizations: Disney World, Galaxy, Disney, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Association for, Advancement of Colored People, Gov Locations: Puerto Rico, Texas, Orlando, Florida, Wales, United Kingdom

☆ The Decision in 303 Creative Deals a Blow to Anti-Discrimination Law - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Lily Moore-Eissenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I now see that my family’s experience with the Twelve Tribes was part of a larger social problem that anti-discrimination laws have long sought to address: the problem of public discrimination perpetrated by private actors. Still, my family’s experience of discrimination helped me understand why anti-discrimination laws for businesses are so important. Public accommodations laws have been on the books since the 19th century; in the 20th century, they served as shields against racial segregation. Public accommodations laws will most likely face more speech-based challenges. We shouldn’t underestimate the symbolic power of contesting discrimination in public accommodations.

Persons: Laws, “ Organizations: Colorado Anti, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Creative Locations: Colorado

The case, though framed as clash between free speech and gay rights, was the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious people and groups, notably conservative Christians. A Colorado law forbids discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public as well as statements announcing such discrimination. But when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, 303 Creative L.L.C. He was the author of every major Supreme Court decision protecting gay rights under the Constitution. But he was also the court’s most ardent defender of free speech.

Persons: Neil M, Gorsuch, Lorie Smith, Smith, Smith’s, Mary Beck Briscoe, Judge Briscoe, “, ” Judge Briscoe, Timothy M, Tymkovich, George Orwell, ’ ”, ”, Anthony M, Kennedy, Justice Kennedy, Jack Phillips, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett Organizations: Supreme, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Colorado Civil Rights Commission Locations: Colorado, Denver, “ Colorado

☆ Trump, Crossing Paths With DeSantis, Tries to Outflank Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump moved on Friday to outflank Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as they wrestled for conservative loyalties at a gathering of right-wing activists in Philadelphia, pushing a shared agenda of forcing the federal government to the right, restricting transgender rights and limiting how race and L.G.B.T.Q. issues are taught. Speaking hours after Mr. DeSantis’s address, Mr. Trump aimed to one-up his top rival by vowing to target federal diversity programs and to wield the power of the Justice Department against schools and corporations that are supposedly engaged in “unlawful racial discrimination.”Mr. Trump said that, to “rigorously enforce” the Supreme Court’s ruling a day earlier rejecting affirmative action at the nation’s colleges and universities, he would “eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the entire federal government.”He added that he would direct the Justice Department “to pursue civil rights claims against any school, corporation, or university that engages in unlawful racial discrimination.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Ron DeSantis, Mr, Justice Department “, ” Organizations: Gov, Justice Department Locations: Florida, Philadelphia

Every June, it seems more and more corporations are trying to speak to and for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community during Pride Month. This year was no different, even in the face of rising homophobia and anti-trans legislation. Whether it was Bud Lite partnering with a prominent trans influencer or the C.I.A. posting a banal message of inclusivity or Disneyland’s Clarabelle Cow being called a rising queer icon after serving in a rainbow dress during the park’s inaugural Pride Nite, companies are clamoring for a chance to make Pride about them. But is this representative of a genuine interest in diversity, inclusion and furthering the acceptance of queer identities, or is it rainbow washing — an attempt at capturing the attention and business of a growing consumer demographic?

Persons: Bud Lite, Max Wittert Organizations: Pride

☆ Judges Block Transgender Care Bans for Minors in Kentucky and Tennessee
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Anna Betts | Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Federal judges in two states intervened on Wednesday to temporarily block laws that would ban gender-transition care for minors, the latest instances where legislation targeting transgender people have been halted by the judiciary. The separate rulings in Kentucky and Tennessee came days before key provisions of the laws were set to go into effect, as a wave of legislation aimed at curbing L.G.B.T.Q. rights has cleared Republican-controlled legislatures across the country this year. Several of those laws either remain tangled in legal battles, or have been ruled unconstitutional by federal judges. Most of the bill took effect immediately when it became law this year, but some provisions were set to go into effect on Thursday.

Persons: David J, Hale Organizations: Republican, U.S, Western, of Locations: Kentucky, Tennessee, of Kentucky

☆ Starbucks to Offer ‘Clearer’ Store Décor Guidelines After Pride Clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( J. Edward Moreno | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Starbucks Workers United said on Monday that the strike would go on unless the company agreed to come to the bargaining table. “While we are glad Starbucks is finally reconsidering its position on pride decorations, Starbucks continues to ignore that they are legally required to bargain with union workers — that’s the power of a union,” the union said in a statement. A Starbucks spokesman said only about 12 stores have had to close each day since the strike began. “The union’s violations have ignited and inflamed workplace tension and division and provoked strikes and other business disruptions in Starbucks stores,” the charges said. In response to tensions with the union, Starbucks adopted a stricter dress code and décor policy to prevent workers from filling stores with union paraphernalia.

Persons: —, Bud Light, influencer Organizations: Starbucks, Starbucks Workers, National Labor Relations Board, Pride

☆ “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Can Still Unsettle Readers. We Need More Fiction Like That. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Ruth Franklin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But reading “The Lottery” as a connect-the-dots political commentary misses the primary source of the story’s power: its ambiguity. Today, readers across the political spectrum seem to be losing their appetite for literary discomfort. I was reminded again of that quality in 2017 by a different story in The New Yorker. Just as the #MeToo movement was getting underway, “Cat Person,” a short story by Kristen Roupenian, went viral for very similar reasons. The reaction was not unlike the reaction to “The Lottery.” “People get angry when they can’t figure out what something means,” Ms. Roupenian told me.

Persons: Jackson, McCarthy, Elizabeth Gilbert, Wesley Morris, we’re, it’s, Kristen Roupenian, Ms, Roupenian Organizations: Yorker, Trump, The Locations: Soviet, Ukraine, Russia, New

☆ Why Mark Ruffalo and Wendell Pierce Are Fighting for a Crumbling Church
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Mihir Zaveri | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the entry of Mr. Ruffalo and a number of celebrities — the actor Wendell Pierce, the comedian Amy Schumer, the rapper Common and more — into the fight over the church, more than two decades after it first began, has added an unusual twist to a common city conflict. Mr. Ruffalo even cornered Mayor Eric Adams at the Tribeca Film Festival this month to plead his case. All sides agree about the storied history of the church and its architectural significance. But around the same time, the church became a flashpoint in the city’s real estate battles. As early as the 1980s, West Park fought against preservationist regulations that would limit how it could use its property, arguing that it should be excluded from a historic district in the neighborhood.

Persons: Ruffalo, Wendell Pierce, Amy Schumer, Eric Adams, Maria Torres, Leaf Organizations: Tribeca, City, Springer, West Park Locations: New York, West

☆ Delaware Lawmaker Aims to Be First Openly Transgender House Member
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Ms. McBride, also a former national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest L.G.B.T.Q. But she holds ample political capital in the state — helped by her relationship with President Biden, who wrote the foreword for the memoir she wrote in 2018. She also worked on the attorney general campaigns for Beau Biden, his son who died in 2015. A wave of bills in recent years have affected transgender people, like limiting transitioning procedures for children and restricting which bathrooms transgender people can use. They are cruel, and we know that policies that target young people, that target parents, that target families, that target vulnerable people in our society, they never wear well in history.

Persons: McBride, Biden, Beau Biden, MAGA Organizations: Human Rights, New York Times, Congress, Delaware General Assembly, MAGA Republicans Locations: Delaware

☆ Accused Club Q Shooter Pleads Guilty in Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Jack Healy | Kelley Manley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Aldrich offered no details about why they carried out the shooting, and little explanation beyond a bare-bones admission using legal language. They did not directly admit to committing hate crimes in targeting Club Q, but instead said they were pleading “no contest” because it was likely that they would be convicted at trial. The five people killed that night were Daniel Aston and Derrick Rump, who were employees of Club Q, and Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance and Ashley Paugh, who were Club Q patrons. “Those are my friends’ lives,” said Ashtin Gamblin, who was hit with nine shots as she worked the door of Club Q on the night of the attack. There’s absolutely no doubt why he chose Club Q.”

Persons: Aldrich, “, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance, Ashley Paugh, ”, ’, Ashtin Gamblin Organizations: Q, Prosecutors

☆ Ahead of New York Pride Parade, Worries About L.G.B.T.Q. Rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the last year, states across the country have passed laws banning drag performances and transgender health care, while protests and physical attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. Conservative-led boycotts against companies that once embraced Pride festivities, like Target and Anheuser Busch, have led to billions of dollars of corporate losses. Heritage of Pride, which organizes the march, recognized the worsening political climate in an open letter earlier this month that was co-signed with the organizers of dozens of other Pride events across the country. Across the country, a wave of state legislation has targeted L.G.B.T.Q. young people in particular, banning transgender health care for minors and barring teachers from discussing gay and transgender topics in schools.

Persons: Ron De Santis, ” Organizations: Conservative, Target, Anheuser Busch Locations: Florida, America, United States

☆ Just Made a Queer Memory? Drop a Pin.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Katherine Oung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LaRochelle originally devised the visual project as a class assignment while they were a student at Concordia University in Montreal, where they live. This month, the site surpassed half a million submissions, with the United States alone accounting for more than 180,000 of the markers. LaRochelle said the milestone was a testament to the “absolutely lifesaving” potential of digital platforms like Queering the Map, which can provide L.G.B.T.Q. “There’s definitely a style in how a Queering the Map post reads: It’s often emo, sometimes funny,” Mx. “It’s fascinating to me the way that the confessional mode of writing in the first couple of stories that I added has persisted.”

Persons: LaRochelle, “ There’s, ” Organizations: Concordia University Locations: Montreal, United States

☆ After the Club Q Shooting, Questions of Money and Justice for Victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jack Healy | Kelley Manley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ashtin Gamblin never realized how expensive it would be to survive a mass shooting. nightclub in Colorado Springs last November, the bills started piling up for Ms. Gamblin. Colorado has raised more than $3 million in donations for people affected by the Club Q shooting and distributed about $2 million, through a nonprofit called the Colorado Healing Fund. But several survivors say the money has come too slowly, with too much red tape. “This is exhausting,” Ms. Gamblin said.

Persons: Ashtin Gamblin, Gamblin, paychecks, Ms Organizations: Club, Colorado Healing Locations: Colorado Springs, Colorado

☆ Putin’s Beast That Would Now Devour Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Roger Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the course of a month I spent in the Russian capital, the red-and-black billboards of Yevgeny V. Prigozhin’s Wagner paramilitary group multiplied. “Join the team of victors!” they said, beneath an image of menacing mercenaries in balaclavas and masks, only their eyes visible. A possible implication was that the Russian forces on the other mushrooming Moscow billboards — regular soldiers recruited by the Ministry of Defense pictured above slogans like “Real Work!” or “Be a hero!” — were the losers of President Vladimir V. Putin’s reckless gamble in Ukraine. Easier to order a latte than dwell on lost lives in Mariupol. officer, abruptly emerged as the inscrutable president and Mr.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin’s Wagner, ”, ” —, Vladimir V, heedless Muscovites, Prigozhin, Putin Organizations: Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, balaclavas, Moscow, Ukraine, Mariupol

☆ What Financial Planning Looks Like for L.G.B.T.Q. People
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Sara Youngblood Gregory | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The family receives financial support from Claire’s parents, who helped cover living expenses when Carla took off a year and a half during the pandemic to care for Linus. Carla has had a different experience with her parents. They have not given her the same level of support, and she believes they have iced her out because she is a lesbian. They were unable to save ahead of time and used credit cards throughout the process. Still, the Shermans got pregnant relatively cheaply through intrauterine insemination, which is usually the first and least expensive stop in assisted reproduction.

Persons: Carla, Linus, ” Carla, ” Linus Organizations: Shermans

☆ Opinion | Coming Out Late — and Finding a New Life in Midlife
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Charles M. Blow | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Born, bred, toasted, buttered, jelly-jammed and honeyed in Harlem.”That’s how Audrey Smaltz, a former model and fashion industry veteran who turned 86 this month, introduced herself to me years ago at a Midtown Manhattan reception. She was the grande dame of the room, floating through it, incandescent, fun and unabashedly flirty. “I had fabulous men in my life,” she told me recently, but in 1999, the Olympic basketball star Gail Marquis, 17 years Smaltz’s junior, asked her out to dinner. Smaltz didn’t think of it as a date and said she had no interest in women at the time. But when Marquis kissed her good night, Smaltz recalled, “it was like kissing a man.” She said, “I couldn’t believe myself,” then laughed, punctuating the thought: “Whoa!”They married in 2011.

Persons: “, ”, Audrey Smaltz, Gail Marquis, Smaltz didn’t, Marquis, Smaltz, Gallup Organizations: Olympic, Pew Research Center Locations: Harlem, Manhattan

☆ ‘Padam Padam’: You Hear It and You Know It’s Pride
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Shane O Neill | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When “Padam Padam,” the Australian pop star Kylie Minogue’s 77th (77th!) people, especially gay men, greeted the campy song with gleeful incredulity, and its infectious chorus quickly spawned memes upon memes upon memes. We asked several D.J.s who are booked to spin for Pride events in New York for their thoughts on the inescapable dance gem and their remix recommendations. Kim Chi“RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant and D.J., 35I will absolutely be playing “Padam Padam” this weekend. The “Padam Padam” craze might have started off as a meme, but also it’s making a new generation of kids discover her, and that’s thrilling to see.

Persons: “, Kylie Minogue’s, gleeful incredulity, Kim Chi, Kylie Minogue Locations: Australian, Los Angeles, Chicago, Provincetown, Mass, New York, U.S.A

In the war-torn Chechnya region, Mr. Kadyrov built up a private fiefdom while professing loyalty to no official but Mr. Putin himself. A judo sparring partner from Mr. Putin’s youth became a construction billionaire and built Mr. Putin’s landmark bridge to Crimea. And then there was Mr. Prigozhin, who has said that he met Mr. Putin in 2000 as a St. Petersburg restaurateur. In Ukraine, as Mr. Prigozhin tells it, Wagner troops were only called in after Mr. Putin’s initial invasion plan failed. But Mr. Putin seemed to vacillate on his own support for Mr. Prigozhin.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin’s, “, ”, —, “ Putin, Tatiana Stanovaya, ” Mr, Ramzan Kadyrov, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Mr, Wagner, tycoons, Boris N, Yeltsin, Kadyrov, Prigozhin’s, K.G.B, Donald J, Trump, Weeks, ’, Putin “, Andrei Soldatov, Prigozhin “, ” Mark Galeotti, ” Neil MacFarquhar, Valerie Hopkins Organizations: Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, ., Reuters, Federal Security Service, Kremlin, Television, Defense, Defense Ministry, Center for Locations: Russia, Moscow, Russian, Rostov, Chechnya, Belarus, Russia’s, Don, Ukraine, Putin’s, Crimea, St, Petersburg, United States, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut

☆ This City Had Quietly Celebrated Pride Before. In 2023, That Was Not an Option.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

And God hates Pride.” “I’m Spencer Lyst. But in Franklin, Pride organizers had already promised the city that there would be no drag shows this year. C’mon, Franklin Pride!” “You know, sometimes it can be really difficult to find a community around here. So hopefully, those will be back in the future.” “I don’t really believe Pride is Pride without drag. But I don’t think there was anything bad to see.”

Persons: Jesus Christ, —, it’s, ”, “, ” “ I’m Spencer Lyst, Spencer Lyst, I’m, ” “, we’ve, Franklin, “ I’ve Organizations: Franklin Pride Advisory Board, Pride, Franklin Pride Locations: Franklin, Tennessee, Tenn, C’mon

☆ Opinion | We Muslims Used to Be the Culture War Scapegoats. Why Are Some of Us Joining the L.G.B.T.Q. Pile-On?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Wajahat Ali | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Somehow, though, this issue has managed to rally an array of Muslim scholars. kids or L.G.B.T.Q. parents that simply reading a book or learning about their existence might be so threatening and offensive that it requires an opt-out option in schools? How would Muslim parents feel if this was applied to children’s books about Ramadan or hajj? Muslims have also joined this campaign in Hamtramck, Mich., which has an all-Muslim City Council.

Persons: It’s, who’s, you’d, “ It’s, ”, Raef Haggag, Kareem Monib, Laura Ingraham, Ingraham, Laura, Mr, Monib, Semafor Organizations: Washington , D.C, Liberty, Southern Poverty Law, of Virtue, Fox News, Muslim City Council Locations: Montgomery County, Md, Washington ,, Hamtramck, Mich

☆ Opinion | The Age of Spectacle Is Upon Us
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( David Brooks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The Dodgers were wrong to honor a group that dishonors other people’s uniforms, and the sacred commitments those uniforms represent. My real beef is that they should be in the baseball business, not the culture war business. There is the state, the church, the family, the schools, science, business, the trades, etc. In our country, the business sphere has sometimes tried to take over the education sphere — to run schools like a business. You open your email and find corporations taking political stances on issues that have nothing to do with their core businesses.

Persons: they’ve, that’s, Abraham Kuyper, Kuyper Organizations: Dodgers, ? Society

☆ A Russian court upholds a Wall Street Journal reporter’s detention.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Moscow court denied an appeal on Thursday by Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who asked to end his pretrial detention in Russia, where he was jailed and charged with espionage 12 weeks ago. Mr. Gershkovich, an American journalist who has been based in Russia for nearly six years, was arrested in late March and charged with spying, which he denies. The American ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracey, was present, as were Mr. Gershkovich’s parents, Ella Millman and Mikhail Gershkovich. The United States government and The Journal have vehemently rejected the charges. The White House has said that Mr. Gershkovich is “wrongfully detained,” tantamount to being a political prisoner.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich, ’, Lynne Tracey, Gershkovich’s, Ella Millman, Mikhail Gershkovich Organizations: Street, United Locations: Moscow, Russia, American, Moscow’s, United States

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