Calum McSwiggan Pleads Not Guilty To Lying About Hate Crime Attack, “Devastated” Nobody Believes Him

It’s been a rough few months for YouTube star Calum McSwiggan.

In June, the 26-year-old internet celebrity claimed he was the victim of a violent antigay hate crime outside the Abbey in West Hollywood that allegedly left him “with three broken teeth and six stitches in my forehead.”

“Last night was the worst night of my life and I’m really struggling to find the words to talk about it,” he said in an Instagram post. “I’ve never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye.”

Related: Popular Gay YouTuber Calum McSwiggan Brutally Beaten Outside The Abbey In West Hollywood

Sources at West Hollywood’s Sheriff’s Station, however, were quick to refute McSwiggan’s claims.

Captain Holly Perez said McSwiggan was examined in the parking lot of Pavilions grocery store on Santa Monica Boulevard the night of the alleged attack, and that he showed absolutely no signs of any injuries. Not just that, but he was seen ripping a rearview mirror off an automobile and scratching the paint on another car. When he was taken to police station holding cell, Perez reported, he allegedly started hitting his face with a telephone receiver. And that’s when he was taken to the hospital.

McSwiggan later admitted to busting his own face with the phone, but, he says, it was only out of desperation. “I knew I had to injure myself to get out of the cell and into a hospital,” he said, “and it was the only solution I could find to get myself out of there.”

McSwiggan was eventually charged with filing a false police report, as well as with vandalizing a car.

Related: UPDATE: Calum McSwiggan Charged With Filing False Report

After missing his first scheduled court appearance because it conflicted with his vacation to Spain, McSwiggan appeared before a Los Angeles court yesterday, where he entered a not guilty plea to both of the charges against him.

Throughout all this, McSwiggan has insisted that the hate crime happened and had voiced frustration over people thinking he’s made the whole thing up.

“Many people are trying to discredit my story but this is the full and entire truth,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Just because there were no visible marks on my face does not mean I was not attacked.”

He continued: “Being accused of being a liar and being called a disgrace to the LGBT+ community, a community I’ve dedicated my life to, is more painful than any hate crime could ever be.”

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for November 7. If convicted, McSwiggan could face up to a year in jail.

Related: Calum McSwiggan Misses L.A. Court Summons For Faking Hate Crime; Instagrams From Spain Instead

www.queerty.com/calum-mcswiggan-pleads-not-guilty-lying-hate-crime-attack-devastated-nobody-believes-20160927?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

WATCH: Katy Perry Votes Naked, Gets Arrested

Mastermind Katy Perry’s plot has been successful! Yesterday she tweeted that she was going to use her body as click bait to change the world. And today she has made good on that threat, with a nude video about voting. Will it actually change the world? That remains to be seen. (Spoiler: no.)

“This year, you can look like shit when you vote… nowhere does it say you can’t roll out of bed and come to the polls in whatever state you woke up in.”

“I sleep naked. Let those babies loose,” she declares. And then some police accost her and she protests, “I read the Constitution, I have the right to vote naked.”

Well, no, technically, you don’t. So if there’s a takeaway from all this, it’s the closing message: “Remember to vote. Who cares what you wear. Just wear clothes.”

This is, of course, all true. And voting is super important, especially if you live in a swing state! Thank you, Katy Perry.

About 126 million people voted in the last election, which means your vote will account for .0000008 percent of the outcome. There’s definitely no better way to have a say in American democracy, unless you are super rich, in which case you can have a lot more of say.

www.queerty.com/watch-katy-perry-votes-naked-gets-arrested-20160927?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

OneOrlando Fund Begins Disbursing $29.5 Million to Victims of Pulse Massacre – VIDEO

The OneOrlando Fund has begun disbursing most of the $29.5 million it collected on behalf of the victims of the Pulse massacre.

After much deliberation, the fund settled on allocation of the funds that gave the most amount of money to estates of those victims who were killed on June 12. Those 49 estates will each receive $350,000.

The AP reports on how the rest of the funds are being parsed out : 

The $29.5 million in the fund will be distributed to 299 claimants, with more than half of the money going to the estates of the deceased victims.

Thirty-seven patrons who required hospitalization will receive $65,000 to $300,000, depending on how long they were in the hospital; eight victims were in the hospital for more than 24 nights and will receive $300,000 each.

Another 31 injured patrons who required outpatient treatment each will get $35,000, and 182 patrons who were at the club but weren’t injured will each get $25,000.

Forty-four claims were rejected because they were duplicates, fund administrators were unable to determine that the applicant was in the club, or there were no records of them being hospitalized, Martins said.

Pulse victims to receive $350k to $25k depending on which category they are in. #WFTVatNoon pic.twitter.com/8Pi9vHNTPD

— Janine Reyes (@JReyesWFTV) September 27, 2016

The AP also reports that at least half of the 49 dead victims’ families and partners are fighting over the funds.

Chair of the OneOrlando board Alex Martins said,”We do have a number of disputes amongst families of the dead. It’s parents in dispute with a partner, who perhaps they didn’t know, or it’s estranged parents, claiming each one of them should receive the funds.”

Funds will not be distributed in cases where the claim is disputed until the dispute is resolved. If the OneOrlando board cannot resolve the matter, the claim will be deferred to a probate court judge.

The OneOrlando fund began releasing money on Tuesday despite an emergency request for an audit.

WFTV reports: 

The injunction, which was denied by a judge Friday, called for an audit of the fund to take place before any money was distributed.

The OneOrlando Fund board spent Monday hammering out the final details of the disbursement schedule for those affected by the June 12 attack that left 49 dead and 53 wounded.

More on the call for an audit of the funds from The Orlando Sentinel: 

Jillian Amador, who was at Pulse with friends on June 12, initially filed the complaint on Friday in Orange County Circuit Court. Judge John E. Jordan dismissed it because the respondents were not served, and Amador refiled the petition today, asking for it to be heard immediately. Jordan denied the request for expedited proceedings but set a hearing for Oct. 6. […]

At a news conference this morning, Alex Martins, Orlando Magic CEO and head of the board of directors for the OneOrlando Fund, said the lawsuit will not delay payments of the $29.5 million, which is supposed to be distributed by the end of the week.

OneOrlando announced more than two months ago that it would audit the money after its been distributed, as is standard procedure in these cases. Amador is pushing for an audit beforehand.

“Quite frankly, if we did an audit today, we wouldn’t be able to audit the distribution – because it hasn’t all been distributed yet,” Martins said. “We need the entire process to be complete before we can thoroughly give a public audit that will give feedback on every segment of what we did. And we will do that.”

Watch a news report from WFTV, below.

The post OneOrlando Fund Begins Disbursing $29.5 Million to Victims of Pulse Massacre – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

OneOrlando Fund Begins Disbursing $29.5 Million to Victims of Pulse Massacre – VIDEO

Legendary Professional Skateboarder Brian Anderson Comes Out as Gay – WATCH

Professional skateboarder Brian Anderson has come out as gay.

The 40-year-old legend took many in the skating community by surprise with his announcement which he shared in a video profile created by VICE Sports.

Anderson says he knew he was gay from about the age of three or four, saying something about men’s facial hair triggered him from a young age. “Something about that told me, ‘that’s right. I like that,’” he recalls.

Anderson also recalls that as a kid he “had a thing” for the character Bluto in Popeye cartoons, an affinity he finds funny today “because [that type of guy is] what I like now as an adult.”

Commenting on the homophobia he encountered growing up, Anderson says, “Hearing ‘faggot’ all time time, made me feel at a really young age that it was dangerous to talk about it.”

That led Anderson to keep his sexuality a secret until now. “I figured it out how to balance it to where nobody questioned it and I was a big tough skateboarder, of course they’re not going to question [my sexuality],” he explains.

Gnarlier than any skateboarding trick ever done, Brian Anderson just changed our world, & the world. An AMAZING day for skateboarding 🙏🏼👬❤️ pic.twitter.com/CJ7tTaItcq

— Robert Brink (@RobertBrink) September 27, 2016

Anderson says he didn’t come out earlier in his career in part because he thought his attraction towards men might fade but also because he says he was “pretty freaked out.” “I was really scared. And people would have perceived it a lot differently had I said this fifteen years ago.”

Skateboarding released Anderson from his anxieties about his sexual orientation. “I used skateboarding to not think about that. I knew I couldn’t go and meet some dude, or something, I was terrified of somebody seeing me doing that. I kind of consider myself a skateboarder first and gay second…I’m a skater, that’s all I know.”

Anderson says he’s coming out now because he hopes to tell LGBT youth that they don’t need to hide who they are and fill themselves with shame the way he did.

On how being closeted may have affected his career, Anderson thinks it may have actually driven him to take more risks. “I think a part of me was so irritated and angry from holding that in so it made me more of an animal on my skateboard,” he says.

Watch Anderson’s interview with VICE, below.

The post Legendary Professional Skateboarder Brian Anderson Comes Out as Gay – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Legendary Professional Skateboarder Brian Anderson Comes Out as Gay – WATCH

Hillary Clinton Blasts NC’s Anti-LGBT HB2 at Rally in Raleigh: WATCH

Hillary Clinton blasted anti-LGBT HB2 law on the campaign trail in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday.

Said Clinton:

“Think about everything that’s at stake in this election. The very mean-spirited wrong-headed decision by your legislature and governor to pass and sign House Bill 2 has hurt this state. But more than that it has hurt people. It has sent a message to so many people that you’re not really wanted. You’re not part of us. I think the American dream is big enough for everybody.”

Watch:

.@HillaryClinton takes a stand on #HB2 that tells trans people they don’t belong: “I think the American Dream is big enough for everybody.” pic.twitter.com/lDfiwps5yy

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) September 27, 2016

Republican lawmakers, who rushed passage of HB2 last spring in a specially-called session in order to stop Charlotte’s LGBT non-discrimination statute from going into effect, said they would consider repealing HB2 if Charlotte first repealed its ordinance, which protects LGBT people from discrimination.

Charlotte’s mayor last week said no to that compromise.

And Governor Pat McCrory planted fake questions at a press conference, posed by an unwitting moderator, to avoid having to answer real questions about the anti-LGBT HB2 law that has cost the state millions of dollars in lost revenue.

McCrory has at least 395 million reasons not to want to answer questions about HB2. That’s the amount, in dollars, that the law has cost the state, according to a recent estimate from Wired magazine.

And McCrory has reason to worry politically. The latest RealClearPolitics polling average has the governor trailing Attorney General Roy Cooper by 47.8 to 44.2.

The post Hillary Clinton Blasts NC’s Anti-LGBT HB2 at Rally in Raleigh: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Hillary Clinton Blasts NC’s Anti-LGBT HB2 at Rally in Raleigh: WATCH

Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly, Chad Griffin, Others Launch “Vocal Majority” Bus Tour in Orlando

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired NASA Astronaut and Navy Combat Veteran Captain Mark Kelly, the Co-Founders of the gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC, gathered with Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin and local and national leaders today to launch the 2016 Vocal Majority Tour, a 14-state, six-week, 43-city national bus tour that stretches until Election Day to ignite the Vocal Majority of Americans who support commonsense gun violence prevention laws and urge them to vote to reduce gun violence in November. The tour kicks off in Orlando, where on June 12 the nation’s deadliest mass shooting at Pulse nightclub resulted in the loss of 49 LGBT people and allies.

The Vocal Majority Tour is part of ARS PAC’s “Vocal Majority” campaign this fall to mobilize millions of Americans to make the 2016 election a referendum on gun violence prevention and to support leaders up and down the ballot who are committed to taking responsible steps that reduce gun violence. Following today’s rally in Orlando, the Vocal Majority Bus Tour will travel to 43 cities across 14 states, including Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Maryland, DC, Virginia, and North Carolina.

At today’s kickoff, Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly were joined by survivors and families from the gun tragedy at Pulse nightclub; Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign; candidates for Congress Val Demings and Stephanie Murphy, and other leaders.

Following the kickoff, Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly joined a roundtable with local and national leaders to discuss the impact of gun violence on the Orlando community and the need for commonsense change. 

The roundtable conversation was led by Chad Griffin, President of HRC.

“Stopping gun violence takes courage – the courage to do what’s right, and the courage of new ideas. I’ve seen great courage when my life was on the line,” said Congresswoman Giffords in her speech at this morning’s announcement. “Now is the time to come together – to be responsible! Democrats, Republicans – everyone.”

“Our country is in the grips of a gun violence crisis. And for too long, a small but vocal minority – driven and controlled by the gun lobby – have had outsized influence over our nation’s gun laws,” said Captain Mark Kelly in his remarks at this morning’s kickoff. “It’s time for the majority to be heard. Let’s work together to make sure that 2016 is remembered as the year we made our voices heard – and the year that the movement for safer communities won big at the ballot box.”

“The 49 LGBTQ people and allies who lost their lives in Orlando nearly four months ago were brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors, husbands and wives. But above all, they were human beings – human beings who were loved, who had hopes and dreams for long and full lives. And they were murdered simply because of who they are, and because it is too easy in America today for a dangerous person to buy a dangerous weapon,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “This November, we need to elect candidates up and down the ballot who not only stand up for the equal dignity of the LGBTQ community, but stand up for our right to live and love free from fear and violence.”

“As a proud veteran and someone who lost a family member to gun violence, I want our leaders to do more to save lives and protect our communities,” said Celia Ruiz, the sister of Juan Guerrero who was killed at the Pulse nightclub. “Our rights come with great responsibility, and it is time for the vocal majority of Americans who want change to speak out.”

“As a survivor of the tragedy at Pulse, I am proud to be part of the Vocal Majority of Americans calling for responsible change,” said Angel Colon. “I’m honored to stand with Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly in this badly-needed fight for safer communities.”

Along with the Vocal Majority Tour, in 2016 ARS PAC is supporting its Champions for the Vocal Majority through endorsements of candidates up and down the ballot. ARS PAC is also making significant investments in races and ballot initiatives across the country and working to hold candidates in the gun lobby’s grip accountable. 

ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES

• Americans are nearly 20 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than people in other peer countries. [Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 2011]
• Each year, 12,000 Americans are murdered with a gun. Every day, 88 Americans are killed with guns, and nearly 12,000 Americans are murdered with a gun each year. [WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2010]
• Over the past 15 years, the gun murder rate has remained largely unchanged – even as violent crime has dropped. While America’s rate of violent crime has generally decreased over the past 15 years, the gun murder rate in the U.S. has remained relatively constant. Between 1997 and 2013, gun homicides have not varied more than 10 percent in either direction. [Everytown for Gun Safety, 2014]
• The number of shootings is on the rise. While the number of gun murders in the U.S. has remained constant, the number of shootings has been increasing. The number of non-fatal gunshot wounds rose more than 50 percent between 2001 and 2013. [Everytown for Gun Safety, 2014]

www.hrc.org/blog/gabrielle-giffords-mark-kelly-chad-griffin-others-launch-vocal-majority-bus?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Start Talking. Stop HIV. campaign releases new Alex Newell music video

www.glaad.org/blog/start-talking-stop-hiv-campaign-releases-new-alex-newell-music-video

Let 'The Making of A King' Introduce You to the World of Drag Kings (Video)

It’s time for drag kings to finally get the spotlight in this honest and compelling documentary.

www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/9/27/making-king-fresh-new-documentary-world-drag-kings-video

Whole Foods Supervisor Who Said “Only Gay People Wear Crocs” Faces Discrimination Suit

According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, a Whole Foods employee in Boulder, Colorado feels she faced ongoing discrimination due to her sexual orientation — all at the hands of a supervisor who made fun of her clothing, her Crocs in particular.

“She told me that I looked ‘unfuckable,’” Jennifer Johnston tells CBS4. “And that only gay people wear Crocs, which I took offense to.”

Related: Trans Whole Foods Employee Referred To As “It” Files Discrimination Lawsuit

Johnston claims that when she complained to management, she was basically punished for doing so: the general manager wrote her up for playing music with “profane language,” which Johnston vehemently denies.

“It made me feel awful,” Johnston says. “I loved working for Whole Foods … it was really disappointing when I wasn’t supported back when I always supported them.”

Related: Whole Foods Goes Gay

She says the discrimination is what ultimately led her to resign. Now, she’s requesting back pay in addition to damages.

Whole Foods Market, which is currently investigating the incident, told CB4 in a statement that “discrimination in any form is unacceptable to Whole Foods Market. We were notified of this filing and are looking into the situation.”

While we’re sorry to hear about Johnston’s woes, we’re pleased to read how Jezebel wrapped up their coverage:

“Gay people, of course, are not the only ones who wear Crocs. The monstrosities are popular among people with terrible taste in footwear of all orientations.”

www.queerty.com/whole-foods-supervisor-said-gay-people-wear-crocs-faces-discrimination-suit-20160927?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Peter Thiel’s Data-Mining Start-Up: No Asians!

Literally no one should be surprised that one of prominent Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel’s companies employs hiring practices that are comparable to the sexual criteria of the worst douche nozzles on gay hook-up apps. The gay tech bazillionaire who brought down Gawker this summer and is rumored to be on Trump’s shortlist of possible supreme court nominees has a history of opposing diversity in hiring. In 2013, he co-authored a screed against Affirmative Action for Stanford Magazine, as well as a 1999 book decrying multiculturalism in higher education that drew criticism from former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Stanford University’s then-provost.

Now the Department of Labor is suing Thiel’s troubled data-mining startup Palantir — which appears to be named after the evil crystal balls from The Lord of the Rings — for systematically discriminating against Asian applicants in its hiring practices.

According to the complaint, filed on Monday, Palantir hired only 11 Asian applicants compared to 14 non-Asians from a pool of 1,160 applicants, 85 percent of whom were Asian.

In a statement, the company denied the DoL’s allegations: “Despite repeated efforts to highlight the results of our hiring practices, the Department of Labor relies on a narrow and flawed statistical analysis relating to three job descriptions from 2010 to 2011.”

Earlier this year, Buzzfeed posted a deep dive into the secretive company based on internal documents that revealed it was hemorrhaging top clients. As of press time there has been no report yet on how fats and femmes fair at Palantir.

H/T: Vice News

www.queerty.com/peter-thiels-data-mining-start-no-asians-20160927?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29