Gay Couple Assaulted by Cop and Jailed for Kissing in Grocery Store to Receive $80K Settlement

You may recall the story of Courtney Wilson and her girlfriend Taylor Guerrero, a Los Angeles couple, who filed a federal lawsuit in October 2015 claiming they were attacked by a Honolulu police officer on their second day of vacation in the state after he witnessed them kissing in a grocery store.

Said Guerrero: “We were holding hands and I was kissing her cheek. He was like you girls, you girls can’t do that in here.”

It was then that the officer, a 26-year veteran of the force, followed them to the checkout, threatened to arrest them for trespassing, and then got physical when Guerrero tried to call the police, they say.

Hawaii News Now reported:

“I got punched in the face by him,” Wilson said. “I split my nose open. We were on the ground.” The women said Foodland employees were then instructed to hold them down until someone found zip ties.

“They took us down to the basement of Foodland where they continued to harass us about our conduct in the store, asking us if it was worth it, if we were happy where we are,” Wilson said.

“We were just shocked that it all happened.”

The two were arrested for assaulting a police officer and had to use the money they came to the islands with to post bail. As a condition of their release, they couldn’t leave Oahu and wound up sleeping in a park. After five months, prosecutors threw out the case, said their attorney, Eric Seitz.

The issue is being settled out of court:

Honolulu has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a lawsuit from two gay women who allege a police officer wrongfully arrested them after seeing them kissing in a grocery store.

Details of the settlement were announced Friday in federal court in Honolulu. It’s still subject to City Council approval. The council is expected to consider the settlement at a July 6 meeting, said Honolulu Deputy Corporation Counsel Nicolette Winter.

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Ryan Gosling Licked a Man’s Hairy Belly and He Wasn’t Ready for It: WATCH

After discussing the size of Tom Daley’s speedos, Graham Norton’s panel last night moved on to that time Ryan Gosling licked a man’s hairy belly.

RELATED: Ryan Gosling’s Lost Prison Strip Scene: VIDEO

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” resisted Gosling.

“It’s a funny story, tell it,” demanded Norton.

Gosling said that his arms and legs were forced into an awkward position during a Turkish massage and his mouth ended up in a place he didn’t recognize.

Said Gosling:

“You know when you get something weird in your mouth and if you’re eating something your brain sends your tongue to figure out what it is? It’s not a conscious thought it’s just like ‘is that a bone? Figure that out.’ Your tongue goes in to figure it out. My tongue was like ‘what is that? It’s a hairy belly!’

Watch:

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One Year After Referendum in Ireland, Equal Rights for Same-Sex Couples Advances Around the Globe

One year ago tomorrow, over 60 percent of Irish voters voted ‘yes’ in the first-ever national referendum for marriage equality in the world. Since Ireland became the 18th country to decide to afford same-sex couples full marriage rights, marriage equality and the rights of same-sex couples have moved forward in several countries around the globe.

While civil unions do not afford the same rights as full marriage equality, these cases have also raised the visibility and struggles of same-sex couples around their perspective countries.

A month after Ireland’s vote, the Supreme Court of the United States found bans on marriage equality to be unconstitutional in a historic 5-4 ruling, making marriage equality the law of the land in all 50 states.

In November 2015, Cyprus’ parliament overwhelmingly passed a landmark law that grants civil partnership rights to same-sex couples.

In March, HRC reported that the small British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, a collection of small North Atlantic islands about 700 miles east of North Carolina, will hold a referendum on marriage equality and same-sex civil unions.

Last month, marriage equality advocates in Chile held an important meeting with President Bachelet and presented their proposed marriage equality bill. Advocates at the meeting told HRC that the president agreed that the bill should be introduced as soon as possible.

That same month, Colombia’s Constitutional Court in favor of marriage equality for the nation’s same-sex couples.

Earlier this month, Italy’s parliament voted 369-193 in favor of same-sex civil unions. Before this vote, Italy was the only country in Western Europe with no legal form of recognition for same-sex couples.

On Tuesday, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto submitted an official proposal to Congress that would allow nationwide marriage equality in Mexico. While marriage equality is the law of the land in nine Mexican states and the Federal District of Mexico City, marriage equality continues to be denied to same-sex couples in 23 of Mexico’s states. This means that same-sex couples living in states without marriage equality still need to each seek legal recourse.

While we have seen and celebrated progress, we have also dealt with defeat. In April, a court in China dismissed a man’s request to marry his male partner. While this is a setback for those fighting for equality, LGBT advocates agree that this case has raised the visibility of LGBT people in China, who continue to make important advances. The plaintiff plans to continue his fight in court to marry his partner.

Additionally, HRC is working closely with Australian Marriage Equality and other advocates as they fight to make Australia the next country to open its doors to marriage equality. HRC Global also attended Taiwan Pride in October 2015 where then presidential candidate Tsai Ing-Wen, who went on to win elections and was inaugurated as the country’s first female president yesterday, announced her support for marriage equality. Now that Tsai is in power, marriage equality is possible in Taiwan in 2016.

www.hrc.org/blog/one-year-after-referendum-in-ireland-rights-for-same-sex-couples-advance?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The New ‘Star Trek’ Trailer is Beyond: WATCH

Star Trek Beyond, starring Idris Elba, Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban, dropped late yesterday at a fan event and features the Enterprise being torn to shreds by a terrifying shroud of alien creatures.

The alien leader even dares to sit in Captain Kirk’s chair.

The film is premiering in IMAX at Comic-Con on July 20 and hits theatres two days later.

Watch:

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Texas GOP Platform Has a Grammar FAIL, Declares Most Texans are Gay

The Republican Party of Texas recently announced its (not surprisingly) heinous platform, but it’s a grammar fail which this week grabbed the most headlines.

Says the platform:

Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that has [sic] been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nations [sic] founders, and shared by the majority of Texans.

Writs Dale Carpenter in the Washington Post:

Language is complex, rules of usage are not ironclad laws, and people make minor and unimportant grammatical mistakes all the time. Usually they deserve charity. The unlettered quality of a statement is nothing next to its toxic substance.

But Texas GOP leaders adhere to a pinched form of literalism in law and life, so they deserve to be taken strictly at their word: “Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that . . . has been . . . shared by the majority of Texans.”

To be fair, the new platform language does not actually assert that most Texans are gay. It claims only that they “share” homosexuality. But what can this possibly mean? Perhaps it means that there is a certain amount of homosexuality that most Texans pass around to each other. If someone doesn’t seem to have enough, one Texan may loan or even give another Texan some of his. Or it could refer to a trait that most Texans have in common, like good taste in barbecue. Of course, it should be emphasized that a majority but not all Texans share homosexuality. There may be some who hoard it.

The full section:

Homosexuality- Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nations founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, in public policy, nor should family be redefined to include homosexual couples. We oppose the granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.

Read the full platform below (if you want to gag):

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PHOTOS: Motel Men

www.advocate.com/photography/2016/5/21/photos-motel-men

Are Most Texans Gay? State GOP Platform Says So

A grammatical error in the virulently anti-LGBT platform makes it appear to state that Texas has a majority-gay population.

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/5/20/are-most-texans-gay-state-gop-platform-says-so