Prominent Gay Couple Attacked in Palm Springs in Apparent Hate Crime

Police in Palm Springs say two prominent residents were attacked by two men on Sunday night because they are gay. Detectives are investigating the attack on George and Chris Zander as a felony hate crime, according to The Desert Sun, the second antigay hate crime in the city this year.

The married couple were holding hands when they left Hunters, a popular gay bar, according to Chris Zander, who said they were confronted by a man who yelled an antigay slur. When Chris responded by saying, “That’s totally uncalled for,” the man reportedly pulled him to the ground by his shirt, and then ran.

As the couple continued on their way, their attacker returned with another man, and struck Chris Zander in the head, knocking him out. George Zander, who is 71 years old, was pushed to the ground and fractured his hip in two places. He will undergo surgery today to repair the damage, but is expected to make a full recovery. A photo of George snapped Monday was posted on Facebook by friends.

“I don’t understand why somebody would push a 71-year-old man over. It makes me want to cry every time I talk about it,” Chris Zander told The Desert Sun.

Police are looking for two white males, one described as stocky, with red hair. The men drove away in what police describe as a “a sedan-type vehicle.”

George Zander is the Equality California Coachella Valley field manager and active in the Desert Stonewall Democrats. The couple is well known for their activism, and community leaders reacted with shock and dismay.

“George is a core member of our team and our entire staff and board were horrified to hear of this horrific hate crime,” said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. “This was an attack on someone who confronts bigotry and hostility as part of his job, and who works every day to make the world a better and safer place for LGBT people. If it can happen to George in a place that we think of as a refuge for the LGBT community, it can happen to anyone, anywhere. In spite of the victories of the past 10 years, we still have so much work to do.”

Veteran gay activist Cleve Jones wrote about the attack on his former neighbors on Facebook, saying “We’ve come a long way, but anti-gay violence is still real, even in places like Palm Springs.” A group, Justice & Support for George, has been established on Facebook to show support for George and his husband.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Palm Springs Police at 760-323-8116, or Valley Crime Stoppers at 760-341-STOP (7867).

Bil Browning

www.advocate.com/crime/2015/11/03/prominent-gay-couple-attacked-palm-springs-apparent-hate-crime

School Defies Department Of Education To Discriminate Against Transgender Student

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found the school in violation of Title IX, but the school isn’t budging.

The post School Defies Department Of Education To Discriminate Against Transgender Student appeared first on ThinkProgress.

Zack Ford

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/11/03/3718685/school-transgender-locker-room-violation/

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2015: A Reporter's List
I did this for the first time four years ago. The 20-odd transgender deaths that passed my desk during 2012 were compiled into a post presenting the victims’ names and how they’d died in order to convey the importance of observing the Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20. I did the same for 2013 and 2014. I’m doing it again now for 2015.

This is by no means a complete list. Most transgender deaths are unreported or lost due to misgendering. I should also point out that not everyone agrees on which types of deaths ought to be included in such lists. I’ve included domestic violence and suspicious deaths but excluded suicide. I’m starting with the most recent death and working my way back to November 1, 2014:

Zella Ziona: Lured and shot to death near Gaithersburg, Maryland in October, 2015. A suspect Rico Hector Leblond, was charged with murder.

Diana Sacayán: Prominent Argentine trans activist was stabbed to death in Buenos Aires in October, 2015. Police are looking for 2 suspects.

Rafaela Capucci: Killed at her place of work in Vogtsburg, Brazil in October, 2015.

Melvin: Shot to death in Detroit, Michigan on October 5, 2015.

Kiesha Jenkins: Shot to death in Philadelphia in October after being assaulted by a group of men. A suspect, Pedro Redding has been arrested. Police are looking for 2 other suspects.

Chocobar Marcela: Reported missing in Argentina in September 2015. Her burnt and dismembered skeletal remains were identified by DNA a month later.

Keyshia Blige: Declared dead at a hospital in Aurora, Illinois on March 7, 2015 after being shot while driving a car and subsequently crashing the vehicle. Death went unnoticed due to media misgendering until reported in UK media in August, 2015.

Jasmine Collins: Stabbed to death in Kansas City, Missouri on June, 2015. The killer prevented others from offering CPR. A suspect, Tia Townsel is charged with murder.

Tamara Dominguez: Kansas City, Missouri police say she was hit by a SUV, then run over twice as she was lying on the ground in August, 2015. Pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

Elisha Walker (aka Angel Elisha Walker): Reported missing in November, 2014, body found in crude grave in Johnson County, North Carolina in August, 2015. A suspect, Angel Dejesus Arias is charged with murder.

Kandis Capri: Shot outside an apartment complex and pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona in August, 2015. Police released a video in hope of finding the killer.

Ashton O’Hara: Brutally murdered in a Detroit, Michigan field in July, 2015. A suspect, Larry B. Gaulding, is charged with first degree murder.

Shade Schuler: Severely decomposed body discovered in a field in Dallas, Texas on July 29th, 2015. Cause of death unclear. Possibly shot. No suspects.

Amber Monroe: Shot to death in Detroit, Michigan, during the summer of 2015 (exact date unclear). Police still looking for a suspect as of October, 2015.

KC Haggard: Stabbed to death in Fresno, California in a July, 2015 incident that was captured on surveillance video. Her pleas for help were ignored by passerbys. Police are looking for suspects.

Nephi Luthers: Shot in the head in Georgetown, Guyana in July, 2015 by a person she was talking to. Police have arrested one suspect, Ron Forde, and are looking for a second suspect named Kanand Ojha,

India Clarke: Found shot to death in Tampa, Florida in July, 2015. A suspect, Keith Lamayne Gaillard, has been arrested.

Daya Rani Kinnar: The victim, a well-known trans politician, was shot to death in Uttar Pradesh, India in July, 2015. Two suspects were arrested and police are looking for a third.

Mercedes Williamson: DNA confirmed that a body stabbed to death and buried in George County, Mississippi in May, 2015 was that of the victim, a resident of Alabama. A suspect who knew the victim, Josh Brandon Vallum, was arrested after being turned in by his father.

Laura Vermont: Died in a São Paulo, Brazil hospital in June, 2015 from injuries not clearly specified. Two military police officers, Ailton de Jesus, and Diego Clemente Mende were arrested for their involvement in the death.

Francela Méndez Rodríguez: Noted trans activist murdered while visiting a friend in Sonsonate, El Salvador on May 31, 2015.

London Chanel (aka Londyn “Kiki” Chanel-Washington, London Banks): Stabbed to death in Philadelphia on May 18, 2015. A suspect, Raheam Felton, was arrested and charged with murder.

Yosvani Muñoz Robaina: Stoned to death in a public park in Pinar del Rio, Cuba on April 26, 2015. Three suspects were detained.

Almaroof Bijli: Burned and mutilated body was found on May 5, 2015 in Gungal, Pakistan.

Saima Shahzadi, Shah Zaib and Billi: Shot by motorcyclists in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in May, 2015.

Vanessa Santillan: Found in a London apartment strangled and beaten on March 28, 2015. A suspect, Joaquin Gomez-Hernandez, was arrested.

Two unidentified trans women: Gunned down after performing at a wedding in Pakistan in April, 2015.

Kristina Grant Infiniti: (aka Kristina Gomez Reinwald) Found dead in her Miami Florida home in Feb. 2015. Police classified the death as a homicide.

Sumaya Dalmar: (aka Sumaya Ysl) Found dead in Toronto, Ontario on Feb 22, 2015. Cause of death not released. Unclear if it is a homicide.

Bri Golec: Killed by her father during a domestic dispute in Akron Ohio on Feb. 13, 2015. The father, Kevin Golec was charged with murder.

Piu da Silva: Disfigured body was found January 24, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one day after a video showing the victim being tortured surfaced.

Penny Proud (aka Penny Proud Johnson): Fatally shot on Feb. 10. 2015 in New Orleans. Police believe it may have been a robbery attempt. Two suspects are being sought.

Taja DeJesus: Stabbed to death in February, 2015, in San Francisco. A suspect, James Hayes, committed suicide before being found by police.

Marisol Almeida: Found dead in her place of business on Dec. 24, 2014, in Ecuador.

Yazmin Vash Payne: Found by firefighters stabbed to death in Los Angeles on January 31, 2015. Her live-in partner, Ezekiel Jamal Dear, is charged with murder and the setting of their apartment on fire.

Papi Edwards: Shot to death in Louisville, Kentucky on January 9, 2015. A suspect, Henry Richard Gleaves, was charged with murder.

Hande Ö: Found strangled in her Vienna apartment on January 19, 2015. DNA evidence resulted in the arrest of an unnamed suspect.

Unidentified trans woman: Found shot to death in Badhber, Pakistan, in January, 22, 2015.

Lamia Beard: Died in a Norfolk, Virginia, hospital of gunshot wounds in January, 2015.

Ty Underwood: Shot to death on Jan. 26. 2015 in North Tyler, Texas. A suspect, Carlton Ray Champion, Jr., is charged with murder.

Gizzy Fowler: Gunned down in Nashville, Tennessee in November, 2014. A suspect, Mallory Antoine Porter, turned himself in to police.

Deshawnda Sanchez (aka Tata): Shot to death in Los Angeles in December, 2014. A suspect, Robert James Spells, has been arrested.

Keymori Shatoya Johnson: Shot to death in her Albany, Georgia (USA) home in December 2014. A suspect, Kuyaunnis James has been arrested.

Unidentified trans woman: Found murdered in Tblisi, the former Soviet state of Georgia in November, 2014.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20.

Feel free to share your comments or new facts on any of the trans people on this list.

My TDOR 2014 list and photo array.

TDOR 2013

TDOR 2012

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Open Question: Why whenever liberals want to justify their hypocrisy they say "comparing apples to oranges? Take LGBT and incest for example (READ)?
It is almost never apples and oranges, you can be bigoted against incest all you want, it’s “icky and wrong” do the same to LGBT and you’re a terrible person.

“Love is love” but incest gets bashed, ‘It’s not hurting anyone” but incest gets bashed.

Also I notice with incest people make it seem like it’s between an adult and child and there’s a power struggle, it’s incest, not pedophilia, should we associate gays with pedophilia too? You know you’re making strawman arguments to paint it in a negative light.

You use the excuse that a deformed child can be born

1. No guarantee they’ll have a kid.
2. If they do no guarantee the child will be deformed.
3. So what if it is? Do we kill special needs kids?
4. What about an older couple having a child? Increased chance their child will be deformed.
5. Abortion is ok but the possibility of a deformed child existing is where you draw the line?

For the record I’m not into incest, I’m making a point, so don’t respond with some lame *** deflection like “you wanna f**k your sister”

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20151103090045AAs5EWb

After 42 Days, Turing Pharmaceuticals Has Yet to Take Action on Outrageous Price Hike

While HRC has continued to take action 42 days since Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli promised to lower the price on Daraprim, providers report that the hiked up price remains the same.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/after-42-days-turing-pharmaceuticals-has-yet-to-take-action-on-outrageous-p?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

DVD: “In The Grayscale,” “Best Of Enemies,” “Gueros,” “Liz In September,” & More!

Home entertainment is keepin’ it real gay this week, and showcases a group of seriously talented international filmmakers.

We’ve got a Chilean boy-meets-boy drama (In The Grayscale, above), a documentary on Gore Vidal’s war of wits with William F. Buckley Jr., a Venezuelan lesbian drama, the second season of a Silver Lake-set gay series, and a brilliant and amusing Mexican (albeit non-gay) nod to French New Wave cinema.

Let’s dig into the trailers and details, yes?

 

Best of Enemies

($29.98 Blu-ray; Magnolia)

Gay author/politico Gore Vidal enjoyed a delicious series of scathing TV debates with conservative William F. Buckley Jr. in 1968, which is subject of this documentary by directors Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville. The debates, devised by ABC to hopefully boost ratings during that year’s presidential election cycle, led to some infamous squabbles (clips are seen in the brilliant Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia, which you can watch on Netflix). Oh, if only we had intellectuals like this today going head-to-head… Extras include an interview with the directors and additional interviews with subjects like Andrew Sullivan and Dick Cavett.

 

Liz in September

($24.99 DVD; Wolfe)

Eva is married and mourning her son’s death, but when she meets Liz, a lesbian staying at a Sapphic seaside resort, her world is turned topsy-turvy. Liz, a serial heartbreaker, seems determined to seduce and bed down the “straight” Eva, yet she’s keeping a secret from her friends: she’s dying from cancer. Of course, fate has a few curveballs in store for these two, and some dramatic fireworks from their respective friends (and exes)… Winner of several LGBT film festival awards, writer/director Fina Torres’ adaptation of Jane Chambers’ play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove is probably the strongest lesbian entry to come down the pike in some time.

 

In The Grayscale

($24.95 DVD; Wolfe)

This gay Chilean drama has been likened to Andrew Haigh’s Weekend for what Variety described as its “whispery tone… soft, sunlit textures… (and) delicate dramatic friction in the contrasting temperaments of two men in love.” Indeed, director Claudio Marcone’s debut tracks the unlikely and unexpected connection that grows between a 35-year-old married-with-child architect, Bruno, and openly gay history teacher, Fernando. As things get sexual, Bruno begins to question his identity, which also begins to affect his work and family… A naturalistic, beautiful work that deserves a spot on your shelf or digital library.

 

Eastsiders Season 2

($24.95 DVD; Wolfe)

Created by Mad Men‘s Kit Williamson and As The World Turns‘ Van Hansis, this popular and sexy webseries, set in Los Angeles’ hipster Silver Lake neighborhood, stars the pair as boyfriends Cal and Thom. In this compiled second season (funded via a Kickstarter campaign that raised $153k), the pair dip their collective toe into open relationship territory, with an ex tossed in for good and drama-stirring measure. The acting is superb and the wit sharp, with turns this season from Stephen Guarino, Constance Wu, Willam Belli (yes, of RuPaul‘s Drag Race), and Drew Droege, among many others. Extras include a behind the scenes featurette.

 

Gueros

($34.95 Blu-ray, $29.95 DVD; Fox Lorber)

A prizewinner at international film festivals including Berlin, Tribeca and AFI, plus five Ariels (Mexico’s Oscar equivalent), Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios’s homage to French New Wave cinema follows a group of university students. School’s out due to a strike, so they drift about aimlessly until one of their younger brothers, Tomas, shows up with a mission of tracking down an ailing rock-and-roll legend… Dryly humorous like early Jim Jarmusch and shot in black and white, this signals the start of a major filmmaker’s career. Extras include deleted scenes, an interview with the director, two of Ruizpalacios’s short films, and essay booklet.

ALSO OUT

 

Do I Sound Gay?

 

Vacation

 

The End Of The Tour

 

Inside Out

Lawrence Ferber

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/etfK60HClyA/dvd-in-the-grayscale-best-of-enemies-gueros-liz-in-september-more-20151103

First transgender suicide hotline overcomes growing pains
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First transgender suicide hotline overcomes growing pains
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Trial Date Set for Accused Philly Gay Basher Kathryn Knott

The young woman accused of gay bashing a couple in Philadelphia last year will stand trial on December 9 after rejecting a plea deal offered by prosecutors.

Kathryn Knott is accused of having savagely attacked a gay couple while yelling homophobic slurs at them on the night of September 11, 2014. Her cohorts that evening plead guilty and accepted a plea bargain from prosecutors. They will be placed on probation but serve no jail time. They also continue to deny the victims’ sexual orientation had anything to do with the attack.

Prosecutors allege that Knott called one of her victims a “dirty faggot” in addition to other homophobic slurs while she physically attacked them.

Knott is the daughter of Bucks County, Pennsylvania Police Chief Karl Knott.

Philadelphia Gay News reports:

Knott is charged with two counts each of aggravated and simple assault, as well as conspiracy and reckless endangerment in connection with the Sept. 11, 2014, attack on Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught in Center City.

Common Pleas Judge Roxanne Covington scheduled Knott on Friday for a motions hearing Nov. 24, following by the December trial.

Earlier this month, Knott’s co-defendants, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams, accepted plea deals offered by the District Attorney’s office that include probation, but no jail time. The prosecutor in the case said Knott was offered a similar deal, but she rejected it, opting instead to take her case to trial.

One charge of aggravated assault without serious bodily injury is a felony that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and simple assault is a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.

Last year, we reported on Knott’s history of tweeting hateful slurs, first uncovered by activist Scott Wooledge.

Knott does not face hate crimes charges because Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law does not apply to hate crimes motivated by a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The post Trial Date Set for Accused Philly Gay Basher Kathryn Knott appeared first on Towleroad.

Sean Mandell

Trial Date Set for Accused Philly Gay Basher Kathryn Knott

The High Cost of Gender-Confirmation Procedures

While visibility of transgender people has increased greatly in recent years, and with it acceptance — to some degree — this population still has many hurdles to overcome, not the least of which is financial.

Gender-confirmation surgery and other transition-related medical procedures can result in bills in the tens of thousands of dollars, notes a new Reuters article. And although the number of employers offering insurance plans that cover these procedures is on the rise, coverage is still far from universal.

Sara Davis Buechner, a concert pianist and music teacher quoted in the Reuters piece, said she spent $10,000 to have surgery in Thailand in the early 2000s, plus thousands more for electrolysis, therapy, and other services. As insurance coverage was rare at the time, Buechner paid out of pocket, even selling a piano to help pay the bills. 

“I emptied all my accounts,” she recalled. “And I consider myself one of the lucky ones.” It was worth it, though, Buckner said, because while assigned male at birth, she had always known she was female.

Some who go through transition spend even more. Undergoing all the procedures listed by the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery would total more than $100,000, Reuters notes.

And transgender people often have few financial resources. They are four times more likely than other Americans to live in extreme poverty, according to a report that came out this year from the Movement Advancement Project and the Center for American Progress.

Meanwhile, only 5 percent of U.S. companies offer workers insurance to help with these costs, reports the Society for Human Resource Management, and although that’s up from 2 percent in 2011, it’s still a tiny percentage. Among large employers, it’s somewhat better, with one-third of Fortune 500 companies providing such coverage, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. And growth in transgender-inclusive antidiscrimination laws and corporate policies will likely lead more employers to offer the coverage.

For those with some resources, the best strategy is to “plan ahead, know what your costs are going to be, and what your insurance will cover, and what it won’t,” Wells Fargo financial adviser Paula Heichel told Reuters.

Buechner added, “Just imagine, you have to take every stitch of clothing you own and put it in the garbage. The best analogy I tell people is, ‘What if you moved to Bolivia tomorrow, how much would it cost to start a totally new life?’ The costs are enormous. Start counting.”

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/03/high-cost-gender-confirmation-procedures