Gun-Toting MAGA Trump Supporter Arrested, Disarmed After Menacing Houston Drag Queen Story Hour: WATCH
James “Doc” Green Sr.
A man who had previously been banned from the Houston Public Library after protesting its Drag Queen Story Hour, was placed in handcuffs outside after refusing to leave the premises.
He told police, “We have a bunch of homosexuals that are molesting children. They are doing it with your help.”
Outsmart reports: ‘Jodi Silva, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department, said [James “Doc” Green Sr.] entered the library branch at 1:45 p.m., about 15 minutes before its monthly storytime that features drag queens reading picture books to children and their parents. Library management requested police intervention when Greene would not leave the building. “A manager asked us for assistance because [Greene] was banned from the library, and would not leave when he was asked,” Silva says. “He was previously banned for filming children at the library, and has been known to cause disturbances. Several officers had to escort him out.” Greene was handcuffed, and his concealed weapon was collected in a parking lot outside of the library after he refused to cooperate with police. The man then complained of chest pains after he was put in a police vehicle.
The full segment, Deaf Lives Matter, aired on Wednesday night and Bee was well aware of what a draw DiMarco might be to the show (aside from his intelligence, wit, athleticism, and charm), and demonstrated why by introducing a segment called “Nyle Takes His Shirt Off: So you’ll pay attention to deaf rights.”
Noted Bee: “I would watch the sh*t out of that.”
DiMarco and Bee had tips for law enforcement officers who don’t know how to interact with deaf people: don’t mistake ASL as making threatening gestures, don’t read lips, call an interpreter, and don’t ask deaf people to write things out because English and ASL are not the same and many deaf people, because of language deprivation, can’t read and write English fluently.
VARIETY REPORTS CHICAGO PD SEEKING “PERSONS OF INTEREST” IN ATTACK ON JUSSIE SMOLLETT: The Chicago Police Department has released two images from surveillance video of “potential persons of interest” in the attack of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, Variety’s Ted Johnson (@tedstew) reports. Chicago police tweeted this alongside the photos: “Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member. While video does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed.” Smollett was attacked Tuesday night; his assailants poured an unknown substance on him, put a rope around his neck and called him anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ slurs. More from Variety.
In light of the horrific attack on Jussie Smollett, here’s what you need to know about hate crimes. t.co/pKIA4YVrGt
TODAY AT 1:30 PM ET — HRC, EQUALITY VIRGINIA TO RALLY OUTSIDE STATE HOUSE TO DEMAND HOUSE SPEAKER COX GIVE LGBTQ NONDISCRIM PROTECTIONS A HEARING: More on these bills from HRC.
��URGENT��@SpeakerCox said he
WILL NOT GIVE LGBTQ non-discrimination protections a fair hearing tomorrow!
✅the senate has already passed them
✅vast majority of voters want them
Join us @ 1:30 @ the Statehouse to DEMAND HOUSE LEADERSHIP GRANT A FAIR HEARING!!
MUST WATCH — CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS DELIVER POWERFUL TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF VOTING RIGHTS BEFORE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, spoke out on the Trump-Pence administration’s dangerous and false claims of election fraud — a threat to the voting rights of all Americans, particularly citizens of color, including and especially members of the nation’s LGBTQ community. Watch below.
THANKFUL THURSDAY — PARENTS OF TRANS & GENDER EXPANSIVE YOUTH MEET WITH CONGRESSIONAL TRANSGENDER EQUALITY TASK FORCE: The HRC Foundation’s Parents for Transgender Equality National Council, a group of the nation’s leading parent-advocates in the fight for transgender equality, met with members of Congress to discuss their families’ moving journeys and the urgent need for Congress to pass the Equality Act. Watch here. More from HRC and Washington Blade.
Vanessa Ford, a member of the council, and her daughter, Ellie, appeared on the cover of DiversityIS Magazine’s Spring edition. Read here.
DISGUSTING — HERITAGE FOUNDATION LACKIES HARASS HRC’S SARAH MCBRIDE (@SARAHEMCBRIDE) ON CAPITOL HILL: Said Olivia Dalton (@OliviaAlair), HRC senior vice president of communications: “That the targeted harassment occurred following a moving meeting between parents of trans kids and members of Congress reinforces the massive gap between our message of love and their agenda of bigotry. No one advocating for their basic human rights should face such hate and hostility, and shame on the Heritage Foundation for fostering this kind of atmosphere.” More from Pink News.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW — KIM DAVIS ORDERED TO PAY LEGAL FEES FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES WHO CHALLENGED HER REFUSAL TO ISSUE THEM MARRIAGE LICENSES: More from the Lexington Herald-Leader.
MAN ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED, CALLED ANTI-LGBTQ SLURS IN PHILADELPHIA: City police are investigating whether to designate the attack a hate crime. More from 6 ABC.
MODEL WOODY COOK COMES OUT AS BISEXUAL in an interview with Boys By Girls.
SUNDAY — SUPER BOWL TO MAKE HISTORY WITH FIRST-EVER OPENLY GAY CAMERAMAN: More from Pink News.
MARK YOU CALENDAR — CAPITALS HOCKEY PRIDE TAPE STICK AND PUCK AUCTION FEB 5-11 TO BENEFIT THE HRC FOUNDATION: More here.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
#EYESONCHECHNYA — RUSSIAN LGBTQ ADVOCATES DEMAND COUNTRY OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO TORTURE, DEATHS OF LGBTQ CHECHENS: More from ABC.
GAY BRAZILIAN CONGRESSMAN FORCED TO STEP DOWN AND LEAVE COUNTRY DUE TO DEATH THREATS WILL BE REPLACED BY ANOTHER OPENLY GAY OFFICIAL: Congressman Jean Wyllys, will be replaced by Rio de Janeiro city councillor David Miranda. More from Pink News.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
The Wrap reports that ‘Project Runway’ will feature its first openly trans model in its upcoming season; WSKG interviews a New York Medical College student on her advocacy to get more LGBTQ topics covered by the school; The Associated Press sits down with openly queer Filipino actor Nico Santos (@nicosantos); The Swaddle dispels myths about bisexuality; Vice reviews the new film “The Future is Fluid”
Unlike the Dyke March, which discourages participation from allies, and the Pride Parade, for which groups have to pre-register, the Trans March is open to anyone who identifies as trans* (and/or gender non-conforming) and anyone who wants to stand with them. – Now Magazine
Meth, GHB, and Sex Are At Heart Of Book Using a Harm Reduction Approach To Treating Addiction
The harm reduction book is meant to give plain advice for those that “party and play” to help prevent HIV.
Chemsex — or the use of GHB, methamphetamine or mephedrone in sexual settings in the queer and trans community — provides a means for many to experience intimacy that is otherwise hindered by shame and stigma. But chemsex encounters bear risks and potential harms, exacerbated by this stigma, which are most often addressed — if at all —with a focus on prevention.
That’s why two London sexual health professionals wrote Chemsex First Aid, a booklet that spells out “how to react when things go wrong in a chemsex session,” according to one of its authors, Ignacio Labayen de Inza. Along with co-author David Stuart—who also provides ChemSex support services in London and who first coined the term “chemsex” in the early 2000s — de Inza identified a need for Chemsex First Aid because many chemsex-related care providers knew “what to do to prevent problems, but there was practically nothing until now about what to do when things are already going wrong.”
The booklet takes the harm reduction approach of recognizing that queer men practice chemsex, and will continue to do so. Three in 10 HIV-positive UK men who have sex with men (MSM), for example, engage in chemsex activities. Many who engage in chemsex find it a means to cope with the conflicts queerness poses for “toxic masculinity” and some “religious or cultural attitudes,” says de Inza. “Getting high on the right drugs can seem a great ‘solution’ to these problems. Chems provide a great disinhibition from these issues.”
The guide has four sections, respectively addressing: GHB/GBL-related emergencies; methamphetamine- and mephedrone-related emergencies; other emergencies that occur in chemsex environments; and a summary of first aid situations.
Many of the interventions proposed for chemsex drugs are similar to those suggested for opioids. For example, the booklet advises bystanders to look for problematic breathing and “firmly squeez[e] their trapezius muscle,” when assessing whether someone has fallen into “G-sleep,” a state of unconsciousness that could lead to death—similar to “nodding” in a potential opioid overdose. Working at “a sexual health clinic that has thousands of gaymen who engage in chemsex every month coming through its doors,” de Inza has seen “hundreds who overdose monthly” from chemsex drugs.
The guide also considers withdrawal, particularly from GHB/GBL, and the risks of intravenous drug use, such as intravenous infection, HIV infection or introducing a large amount of air into a vein.
But chemsex also features unique risks and harms. Consent during a meth/meph high can be problematic, because of the drugs’ tendency to null inhibitions and ability to calculate risk. Additionally, meth and meph carry the risk of drug-induced psychosis. The guidelines advise that both issues require active support, and a negotiation between an individual’s agency and the harms caused to themselves or others.
Other chemsex situations potentially requiring first aid interventions include “lodged objects” in the anus, HIV infection, priapism (long-lasting, painful erections), and allergic reactions to substances cut into drugs.
For de Inza, Chemsex First Aid is a part of queer men’s “long history of activism… of sharing information and stories, and of looking out for each other.” The booklet joins a harm reduction ecosystem of both institutional resources and the “word-of-mouth amongst guys that engage in chemsex.” De Inza aimed “to highlight the best tips and advice for the most extreme of circumstances, the most potential[ly] fatal.”
“This was the inspiration behind this resource,” de Inza continues. “There are some seriously complicated judgement calls to be made in dangerous chemsexenvironments, that many health organizations struggle to get right. We had to create this resource for our communities.”
Ben Carver’s high heels race doc shows the joys of community in the nation’s capital
Filmmaker Benjamin Carver has made a documentary about the history of the event, and it comes at just the right time after Individual 1 shut down the federal government, causing so many in the D.C. community to lose paychecks and morale.
