Threatening Homophobic Notes Left On Cars in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen

Handwritten notes have been left on several cars in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York City threatening death to “the homosexuals,” “faggots” and “sexual perverts.”

The notes were spotted on West 46th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues on Sunday and Monday.

With several variations, the notes included such statements as: “God commanded Jewish people to 1) Kill the homosexuals 2) Kill the witches among us”; “America is a Christian nation. Satan will not be a king in N.Y.C. – might be the end of Homosexuality in N.Y.C.”; and “Those faggots, homosexuals, sexual pervert, sexual impotents – trash, garbage, socio-economic drop out – bartenders – cooks – trash – you will be corpes [sic].”

RELATED: Gay Couple Records Uber Driver Calling Them ‘Faggots’ in Homophobic Rant: LISTEN

Yesterday, a manager at a local laundromat said a man aged around 40 came into the store Sunday and handed him one of the notes.

An area resident said he had seen a man placing notes on cars in the area in recent days, but added “It could have been more than one person.”

In a statement, State Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) (right), the only LGBT member of the New York State Senate, said:

“I am deeply concerned by reports of handwritten notes threatening the LGBT community being left in various parts of Hell’s Kitchen. Homophobic and vitriolic language has no place in our city, and is especially concerning on the heels of the horrific hate crime at a gay bar in Orlando over the weekend. I encourage all New Yorkers – LGBT people, in particular – to remain vigilant and report any similar incidents to the NYPD immediately.”

Midtown North Precinct’s Deputy Inspector John Hart told DNAInfo “the investigation into who is leaving them is ongoing, and it is being handled as a possible bias crime.”

The post Threatening Homophobic Notes Left On Cars in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen appeared first on Towleroad.

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After Orlando, Congressman Defends Reading Bible Verse About Gay People Being ‘Worthy Of Death’

Rep. Rick Allen’s homophobic prayer is under new scrutiny.

The post After Orlando, Congressman Defends Reading Bible Verse About Gay People Being ‘Worthy Of Death’ appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/06/16/3789293/rick-allen-orlando-shooting-death-to-gays-no-regrets/

The Mental Health Trauma Of The Pulse Shooting Could Go Far Beyond Orlando

Targeting a queer space puts a strain on a community that is particularly vulnerable.

The post The Mental Health Trauma Of The Pulse Shooting Could Go Far Beyond Orlando appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/06/16/3788309/mental-health-orlando-shooting-lgbt/

Florida’s Attorney General Declared War On Anderson Cooper. It’s Not Going Well.

Bondi complained that Anderson Cooper “basically mocked me” for saying everyone should “just focus on unity and love.”

The post Florida’s Attorney General Declared War On Anderson Cooper. It’s Not Going Well. appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/06/16/3789295/pam-bondi-attacks-anderson-cooper/

OFCCP Updates Final Rule Protecting LGBTQ People From Sex Discrimination

Post submitted by HRC Law Fellow Melissa Wasser

On Tuesday, the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register setting forth requirements that covered contractors must meet under Executive Order 11246 prohibiting sex discrimination in employment. The Final Rule will go into effect August 15, 2016.  

The Final Rule addresses several sex–based barriers to equal employment and fair pay, including compensation discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environments, failure to provide workplace accommodations for pregnant workers, and gender identity and family caregiving discrimination.

This Rule specifically prohibits discrimination by federal contractors against workers on the basis of gender identity or sex stereotyping.  Specifically, it requires contractors to allow workers to use bathrooms, changing rooms, showers, and similar facilities consistent with the gender with which the workers identify. The OFCCP revised rule not only provides much needed protection for LGBTQ people working for federal contractors and subcontractors, but also sets an important example of fair and effective personnel policies for private employers.

HRC has consistently supported the adoption of these essential protections and we applaud the Department of Labor for providing this clear guidance to contractors receiving federal tax dollars. Whether in the workplace, healthcare access, public accommodations, or housing, discrimination against LGBTQ people should never be allowed to permeate into our society.

Tuesday’s Final Rule makes clear that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on an employee’s gender identity or sex stereotyping, however it does not explicitly protect from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.  As HRC stated in letters and throughout the public comment processes, explicit sexual orientation protections are of the utmost necessity to protect all LGBTQ people working for contractors and subcontractors.

HRC applauds the DOL and OFFCP for this clear guidance and for their continued leadership and commitment to improving the lives of LGBTQ workers nationwide. 

To read the rule visit:  www.dol.gov/ofccp/sexdiscrimination.html

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Democrats Get Past Step One on Two Gun Control Measures

The filibuster looks like it’s ended with an agreement that the Senate will vote on two ideas.

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/6/16/democrats-get-past-step-one-two-gun-control-measures

“Looking” The Movie, And 14 Other Must-See Flicks On The Summer Film Festival Curcuit

The king of queer film festivals — San Francisco’s Frameline — hits the four-decade mark this year.

Running June 16-26th at venues across the SF Bay Area, this year’s festival showcases more than 150 films from filmmakers all over the globe. In addition to presenting the best new films of the year, Frameline40 is showcasing a selection of memorable classics and panel discussions looking back and contextualizing cinema today.

This year’s prestigious Frameline Award will be presented to longtime indie industry figure Bob Hawk (Trick, The Celluloid Closet). Seven of this year’s presentations (AWOL, Growing Up Coy, Her Story, The Joneses, Kiki and Out Run) were recipient’s of Frameline’s annual Completion Fund Grant. All descriptions below courtesy of Frameline.

OPENING NIGHT FILM

KIKI / DIR Sara Jordenö / 2016 / USA, Sweden / 94 min
More than two decades after PARIS IS BURNING, filmmakers Sara Jordenö and Twiggy Pucci Garçon’s vibrant documentary fast-forwards to the ballroom scene of today: an unapologetically flamboyant and political subculture centered on LGBTQ youth of color, for whom dance is far more than performance.

 

 

CENTERPIECE US NARRATIVE

AWOL / DIR Deb Shoval / 2016 / USA / 85 min
Tomboy Joey and married mom Rayna fall for each other in this star-crossed love story set in working class Pennsylvania. The pair can’t quit each other, but struggle to imagine a life together as Joey’s deployment for Afghanistan approaches.

 

 

 

 

CENTERPIECE WORLD NARRATIVE

BEING 17 / DIR André Téchiné / 2016 / France / 116 min
When Thomas, the adopted son of rural mountain farmers, has to temporarily share a home with the more urbane Damien, the two hostile boys are forced to negotiate the challenges of unspoken desire, in director André Téchiné’s alluring new masterwork.

 

 

CENTERPIECE DOCUMENTARY

SOUTHWEST OF SALEM: THE STORY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOUR

DIR Deborah Esquenazi / 2016 / USA / 89 min

At the tail end of the “Satanic ritual abuse panic” of the 1990s, four Latina lesbian women were accused and wrongfully convicted of a heinous sexual assault. After serving over a decade in prison, the women won’t stop fighting to prove their innocence, in this heart-wrenching examination of the criminal justice system.

 

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

LOOKING / DIR Andrew Haigh / 2016 / USA / 86 min
Rendered in the same radically real style that made the HBO series a watershed in the presentation of ordinary gay lives, LOOKING, the movie, reunites the show’s sexy San Franciscans in a romantic drama that delivers the sweet satisfaction of closure.

 

 

 

SHOWCASE FILMS
Showcases are gems that are handpicked by Frameline programmers from the hundreds of outstanding films at this year’s Festival.

GIRLS LOST

DIR Alexandra-Therese Keining / 2016 / Sweden / 105 min
In this delectably twisted fairytale of gender fluidity, three outcast girls’ dreams of boyhood become reality, sending them down a shadowy path of self-discovery.

 

 

 

GROWING UP COY / DIR Eric Juhola / 2016 / USA / 86 min
In a highly conservative Colorado town, a pink-loving, pig-tailed six-year-old girl named Coy becomes the unlikely poster child for transgender rights, in a landmark case that is reverberating in state courts across the country.

 

 

 

 

THE INTERVENTION / DIR Clea DuVall / 2016 / USA / 88 min

Friends and family stage a marriage intervention for a toxic couple, only to have to confront their own issues in writer-director-star Clea DuVall’s sharp, funny, and honest portrayal of the complexities of modern adult relationships.

 

 

 

 

PARIS 05:59: THEO & HUGO / DIRS Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau / 2016 / France / 97 min
The thrilling, sexy contours of a new relationship have rarely been mapped as well as in this bold romance, which unfolds in real time on the streets of Paris. After a sweaty bout in a sex club, Theo (Geoffrey Couët) and Hugo (François Nambot) take off together on their bicycles, engaging in a beautifully crafted and moving dialogue that traverses an extraordinary range of personal and psychological territory.

PUSHING DEAD / DIR Tom E. Brown / 2015 / USA / 108 min
In this quirky dark comedy set in San Francisco, a bureaucratic snafu keeps an HIV-positive writer from getting his prescriptions. Skewering healthcare bureaucracy, a gentrifying city, and the tribulations of being a longtime HIV survivor, the film features a terrific ensemble cast, including James Roday, Robin Weigert, Danny Glover, and Khandi Alexander.

 

 

RARA / DIR Pepa San Martín / 2016 / Chile, Argentina / 88 min
With her first feature, writer-director Pepa San Martín constructs a brilliantly subtle family drama that is both a poignant coming-of-age tale and a based-on-a-true-story account of a lesbian marriage threatened by social forces, told chiefly from almost-13-year-old daughter Sarah’s perspective.

 

 

SPA NIGHT / DIR Andrew Ahn / 2016 / USA / 93 min
The LA air is thick with sublimated desire and frustrated yearning in Andrew Ahn’s deeply felt feature debut, a touching study of a virginal, closeted teenager wrestling with his Korean-born parents’ expectations and the forbidden, mysterious allure of men’s bodies.

 

 

 

STRIKE A POSE / DIRS Ester Gould & Reijer Zwaan / 2016 / Netherlands, Belgium / 83 min
In 1990, seven male dancers joined Madonna on her taboo-busting Blond Ambition tour-which blew the roof off of global pop culture, raised AIDS awareness, and turned the dancers into sudden celebrities. This empathetic yet probing portrait revisits that era and traces the dancers’ paths from youthful exuberance to complicated adulthood.

 

SUMMERTIME / DIR Catherine Corsini / France
This 1970s-set, French love story provokes a rush of nostalgia (even if you weren’t there) for that heady time when political and romantic passions intertwined. French farm girl Delphine finds love with Parisian feminist Carole, but family keeps pulling her back into the closet in this smart, sexy movie.

 

 

 

THE TRANS LIST / DIR Timothy Greenfield-Sanders / 2016 / USA / 60 min
Boasting an impressive assemblage of transgender luminaries-including Buck Angel, Laverne Cox, and Shane Ortega-this riveting documentary highlights the distinct individuality and diverse outlooks of its subjects, while simultaneously evoking the collective power of an indomitable community.

 

 

Visit Frameline.org for complete information on all of this year’s films.

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Here’s One Dragtastic Way To Pitch In And Support Orlando Victims

It’s difficult to know what, if anything, can be done in the wake of a tragedy of Orlando’s magnitude. Add a filter to your Facebook profile pic? Share commentary to your News Feed? These gestures all too often feel empty; ineffectively preaching to the choir.

Like most of the country, graphic designer David Ayllon found himself caving in to such feelings of helplessness in the aftermath of the Pulse attack. He wanted to find a way to make a difference.

Related: If Only There Was Something We Could Do About Mass Shootings. Oh Wait, Sam Bee Gets It.

“After seeing the strength and resilience from within the queer and Latinx communities,” he writes on Facebook, “I knew I had to do something to support the victims and their families.”

Thus, Posters For Pulse was born. All proceeds from these limited edition prints — which are $15 apiece — will be donated directly to the official Pulse Victims Fund. They feature some of your favorite she-hilarious drag queens — Peaches Christ, Bob The Drag Queen, Pissi Myles, Ari Kiki — bedecked in sultry, noir-tinged ensembles and, well, just being irretrievably badass, basically.

Related: New Yorkers Gather Outside Stonewall Inn To Pay Respects To Orlando Victims

While $15 may sound like a paltry donation, it will add up quickly — and it’s certainly more useful than any hashtag campaign.

Purchase Posters For Pulse here, and check out the images below:

Ari Kiki

 

Bob The Drag Queen – “Neon” 

Bob the Drag Queen – “Noir”

Crimson Kitty

Betty Washburn

Dusty Ray Bottoms – Version 1

Dusty Ray Bottoms – Version 2

Iris Spectre

Iris Spectre – “Noir”

Jiggly Caliente

 

Judy Darling

Judy Darling

Peaches Christ – “Hands”

 

Peaches Christ – “Scream Queen”

Pissi Myles – “Popcorn”

Pissy Mules – “Pink Prom”

Mary Kona

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RuPaul is ‘Really Numb’ About the Orlando Shooting: WATCH

RuPaul stopped by Access Hollywood Wednesday to discuss the premiere of Skin Wars: Fresh Paint and spoke with Kit Hoover and guest co-host Bryan Safi about the Orlando attack.

RuPaul said he hasn’t even processed everything yet: “I’ve been really numb by this on so many different levels. Not only as an American, but as a human being, to see that we are still in that place.”

Three RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants were directly affected by the tragedy, so it felt personal: Kenya Michaels was performing at the club before it all happened, but she was able to get out; Roxxxy Andrews is a regular performer at the club, but she was in Tampa that night; however Jade Sotomayor’s cousin, 34-year-old Edward Sotomayor Jr., was unfortunately one of the 49 victims of the massacre.

“Every American who believes in what this country stands for is shaken to the core. And it really does have to stop. And like I said, a collective shift in our consciousness has to happen,” said RuPaul. And he explained that “it’s not just about gun control, it’s not just about gay people, it’s about our identity as Americans and that’s the challenge for us moving forward.”

When asked about the FDA’s ban on blood donation from gay man, RuPaul hopes that a horrible tragedy can result in progress:  “We are still a very primitive culture. Unfortunately, maybe occasions like this will advance us and push us forward.”

And he knows where to start: “I do know that love is the first step.”

Can I get an Amen up in here?

Check out the full video below:

The post RuPaul is ‘Really Numb’ About the Orlando Shooting: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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