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Published by Raw Story The Happiest Place on Earth is becoming a lot less crowded. Caught in the middle of Florida Gov. Ron DeSanstis' war on woke, Disney theme parks are experiencing the quietest summer they've had for years, though experts suggest the DeSantis battle is just one factor – and not a major one. “It's something that nobody would have predicted — just unfathomable,” says Len Testa who runs Touring Plans, a company that track wait times at major theme parks, the Wall Street Journal reported. He said July was the third slowest day of the year at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida. At Magic … Read More View the full article

Published by Benzinga As Bud Light, once a beloved contender among the country's favorite beers, spirals down to the 14th spot, the repercussions resonate far beyond the brand itself. A recent YouGov survey reveals the decline in Bud Light's ranking, casting it below competitors like Pabst Bue Ribbon, Miller Genuine Draft and Miller Lite. This seismic shift in popularity jeopardizes the livelihoods of the 65,000 people whose economic well-being is intricately tied to Anheuser-Busch InBev's success. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has taken full responsibility for the controversial promotion involving transgend… Read More View the full article

Published by The Kansas City Star A Shawnee County District Court judge on Monday ordered the Kansas Department of Revenue to immediately stop processing any gender marker change requests for driver's licenses and to take steps to ensure any future licenses issued, or renewed, reflect a resident's sex assigned at birth. Judge Teresa Watson said Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's administration's decision to continue allowing gender marker changes despite a new law defining man and woman based upon sex assigned at birth could result in “immediate and irreparable injury.” The order came in response to alawsuit filed Friday by Kansas … Read More View the full article

Published by DPA More than a million people took to the streets in Cologne, western Germany, on Sunday for the city’s renowned annual Pride parade. Around 60,000 people participated in the actual parade in sweltering temperatures in the city centre, accompanied by music and floats, according to the organizers. With around 230 registered groups, the parade forms part of the two-week long Cologne Pride and was longer than ever, organizers said. Cologne Pride is one of the largest events for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) community in Europe. In Germany, only the celebrations… Read More View the full article

Published by uPolitics.com Members of the Proud Boys have been ordered to pay the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church $1.03 million for vandalizing a “Black Lives Matter” sign in 2020. The Proud Boys is a white supremacist group that aligns itself with former President Donald Trump. The organization was formed in 2016 during Trump's first presidential election. In addition to the fine, the Proud Boys are also banned from going anywhere near the church or making threats against the institution or its pastors for at least five years. Those involved declined to show up to court to defend their actions on June 3… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Shane Dawson and his husband Ryland Adams are expecting twins via surrogate. The 34-year-old star tied the knot with fellow YouTuber Ryland, 32, in January, and on Saturday (08.07.23), the pair announced that they are to become parents in what has been the “craziest” time of their life so far. Speaking in a video posted to YouTube, Shane said: “This is the craziest experience of my whole life. This is only four days post-transfer, today is day four and we've been in contact [with our surrogate] every day. I've been very nauseous, very tired and very hungry. I like, can not believe it! Now it's… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Former pro cyclist Lance Armstrong was met with criticism from his Stars on Mars castmates after defending his take on transgender athletes in sports, RadarOnline.com has learned. The famed athlete had previously shared his thoughts on the subject during a viral episode of his The Forward podcast featuring Caitlyn Jenner, later sticking by his stance that biological males shouldn't compete in women's sports and should instead get a separate category as he spoke with UFC-turned-WWE sensation Ronda Rousey. “One of my most key employees, they're transitioning, I have no problem with that. I love … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By John Kruzel WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court, which last year expanded gun rights in a landmark ruling, is set to return to the issue in a major case testing whether a law that keeps firearms away from people under domestic-violence restraining orders violates the Constitution. It is one of the biggest cases that the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has agreed to hear during its next term, which begins in October. The justices wrapped up their latest nine-month term last week with important rulings rejecting affirmative action in collegiate admissions, undermining LGB… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Aubrey O'Day is coming in hot and heavy about her alleged affair with Donald Trump Jr. — and she's not holding back when it comes to making fun of his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle. During a guest appearance on the Monday, July 3, episode of Michael Cohen's “Mea Culpa” podcast, Trump Jr.'s former mistress trashed Guilfoyle, as she questioned how her former lover could possibly enjoy waking up “next to [Guilfoyle's] face every morning.” Calling him a “brilliant” man, O'Day noted something isn't “authentic” about Trump Jr.'s current persona before shading Guilfoyle's looks and lack of attractivene… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Pope Francis has selected a Jesuit priest known for his LGBTQ advocacy to take part in a weeks-long gathering of bishops and laypeople later this year. The Rev. James Martin was one of several high-profile U.S. clerical leaders to be appointed by Francis to participate in the synod of bishops, a closely watched and likely consequential meeting that will focus on issues regarding the mission of the Catholic church. This year’s meeting will run from Oct. 4-29. A second session is scheduled for October 2024, after which Francis is expected to release a document considering all ideas proposed by d… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Cary Grant's daughter never saw a “hint” her Hollywood icon dad was secretly gay. ‘Beverly Hills, 90201' star Jennifer Grant, 57, has hit out after years of talk her big screen icon dad was in the closet, and in the wake of the 2016 documentary titled ‘Women he's Undressed' which detailed the rumours. She told The Guardian ahead of the release of the upcoming ITV series ‘Archie' on her father, which she is producing, that he was “not flirtatious with men”. Jennifer added: “If you're around your parents a lot, you see them in ways that almost no one else does. And I never saw a hint of that. “I… Read More View the full article

Published by Socialite Life It has been tough, but we've spent all week long scouring the depths of Instagram to bring you this week's Instahottie — Timo Barthel. Timo is a diver who hails from Germany. Last month Timo won the 10-meter platform at the European Championships in Poland and got closer to winning a spot in the 2024 Olympics. On his win, he told Swim Swan, “It's unbelievable I'm just speechless. Last year I won the preliminary too and then I did a bad job in the final, so finally I got the gold medal. It's just amazing and now we have the place for Germany, but it's just for Germany, not my place, so I have t… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters UK (Reuters) – Up to 2,000 anti-LGBT protesters broke up a Gay Pride festival in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday, scuffling with police and destroying props including rainbow flags and placards, though there were no reports of injuries. Organisers accused the authorities of actively colluding with the demonstrators to disrupt the festival, but a government minister said it was a difficult event to police as it was held in an open area, near a lake. “The protesters managed to find… ways to enter the area of the event, but we were able to evacuate the Pride participants and organisers,” … Read More View the full article

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Published by Euronews (English) Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia's longest-serving foreign minister, today became the first openly gay head of state in the European Union. As he was sworn in as the country's new president, pledged to fight for inclusion and equality. During his inaugural address to the parliament, which elected him on 31 May, he said he would use his limited powers to influence legislation and shape public opinion to make Latvia a more inclusive and egalitarian country. “Latvia is a sovereign, free and democratic country. But it must be legal and fair for all. Every person in Latvia, its citizens, must feel that the… Read More View the full article

Gay couple tells web designer, heck will freeze over before their party-planning artistry is available for her launch. Images created with AI. See Nerd Note below 303 Creative v. Elenis: A New Chapter in LGBTQ Legal History? Some believe the U.S. Supreme Court's decision June 30 in 303 Creative v Elenis may be one of the most consequential in LGBTQ legal history—a kind of “separate but equal” pronouncement on how the courts should treat LGBTQ people under the law. Others see a “narrow” injury to the right of LGBTQ people to equal protection of the law and one that will come into play very rarely. The true consequences will likely take many years to realize. That was the case with the notorious and widely harmful 1986 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick. The 5 to 4 decision said states could prohibit same-sex sexual relationships, and it was wielded against LGBTQ people both legally and socially. It took 17 years to overturn. In that 17 years, seven of the nine justices who were on the high court and voted in Hardwick left the bench, including three of the five who had voted to allow bans on same-sex relationships. One of the five, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, changed her mind. So, when the vote on so-called “sodomy laws” came up again, in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, the vote was 6 to 3 to strike down such bans. Nerd Note on Illustrations The illustrations with Lisa Keen's reporting on the 303 Creative decision were generated without the author's participation with Midjourney based on a mix of prompts related to the case like “Imagined Gay couple — look like updated Jesus — tells Lisa Smith, a web designer, that heck will freeze over before their party planning artistry will be used to launch her fantasy of a business. Discriminating and the cynical manipulation of the legal system offends their strong beliefs/religion.” See below for what the prompt based on Biden's reference to a “license to discriminate” produced. Full note at bottom. The Path to 303 Creative: The Role of Political Maneuvering in Shaping the Supreme Court Twenty years have passed since Lawrence, and only one justice who was on the bench in 2003 is still there now: Justice Clarence Thomas. He and five of his conservative Republican appointees voted June 30 to approve the first ever exemption to state laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the public marketplace. Thomas is 75; the other five range in age from 51 (Amy Coney Barrett) to 73 (Samuel Alito). If each current justice retires at 80 (the approximate average age that a justice retires these days), and if a pro-LGBTQ president is in office when each retires, and if nobody dies, the soonest 303 Creative might be overturned is 2030. The Alliance Defending Freedom: Accelerated Appeals in the Wake of Increased Conservatism So, how did this happen? Mitch McConnell: First, of course, then Republican Senate President Mitch McConnell denied a confirmation vote on Obama nominee Merrick Garland. Then he raced three Trump nominees through, creating a super majority of six conservative Republicans on the court. “Alliance Defending Freedom”: With six conservatives on the court, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a national conservative litigation group seeking to undermine equal rights for LGBTQ people—and which was consistently losing at the lower court levels– accelerated its efforts to get appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. One case it had in the pipeline was 303 Creative v. Elenis. It involved a website designer, Lorie Smith of Colorado who was willing to say that she was opposed to same-sex marriage for religious reasons and that she had “worries” that a same-sex couple might come to her and ask her to design a wedding website for them. If a gay couple did, she said her Christian beliefs would require her to say no, thus putting her in violation of Colorado's law against discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations. Unraveling the First Amendment Argument: Assessing the Role of ‘Expressive Activity' in the Case There was no evidence that any same-sex couple had ever asked her, and this is a particularly interesting point. Typically, courts won't take a case unless there is a real –not imagined— conflict. Presumably, the Alliance could not find a website designer who ever faced a real conflict, so it proceeded with Smith and her “worries.” The litigation lost in the district court (which noted that Smith had not been faced with a same-sex couple's request) and lost in the federal appeals court (which said Smith's religious beliefs did not exempt her from obeying the law that applies to all businesses). The next key turning point was when the Colorado attorney general's office conceded that Smith's plans to start designing wedding websites would constitute an “expressive” activity –or speech— protected by the First Amendment. Images created with AI tools. See Nerd Notice below Implications of the Decision: Potential Ripple Effects of the Supreme Court's 303 Creative Ruling Many, if not most, wedding websites simply take information and photos which a couple provides and plug those into existing website templates. Smith claimed that she would pour herself into the creation of each website, so much so that the couple's wedding website is really her speech, not theirs. So, if Colorado forced Smith to create wedding websites for same-sex couples' weddings, it would be abridging her First Amendment right to free speech. “By carving out a new ‘license to discriminate' for businesses that claim to engage in ‘expressive' or ‘artistic' services,” said Biden in a statement, “this decision threatens to undermine critical non-discrimination protections for LGBTQI+ people. President Joe Biden Images generated by Midjourney prompt: “A license to discriminate” from Biden's remarks And then, oddly, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the Alliance's appeal for Smith's case and, in doing so, stipulated that the only question it wanted to hear arguments about was “Whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.” On its face, the answer seemed obvious: Of course, it does. The court's question presumed Colorado applied the state law to “compel” Smith to “speak or stay silent.” As ACLU legal director David Cole said in a New York Times guest column last December, “The right question is whether someone who chooses to open a business to the public should have the right to turn away gay customers simply because the service she would provide them is ‘expressive' or ‘artistic'.” The Future of Discrimination Laws: 303 creative llc v. elenis prediction “President Biden's Concern: The Potential for Increased Discrimination Against LGBTQI+ Americans”** On its face, the court's decision seemed to agree. “When a law prohibits or compels expressive conduct or intrudes on a speaker's editorial control,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch for the majority, “it must satisfy ‘strict scrutiny.'” But Justice Gorsuch also noted that the Colorado law prohibited Smith from “declining any request to design and create wedding websites for same-sex marriages.” President Biden immediately expressed his concern with the decision. “By carving out a new ‘license to discriminate' for businesses that claim to engage in ‘expressive' or ‘artistic' services,” said Biden in a statement, “this decision threatens to undermine critical non-discrimination protections for LGBTQI+ people. It means that a small business can refuse service to a same-sex couple because of the owner's religious beliefs.” First Amendment Controversies: The Fear of an Increasingly Religious Government He and many others worry that the decision could be used by conservatives to justify broader exemptions to laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. And, in some cases, the majority opinion suggested that even laws prohibiting discrimination on race could be undermined. Gorsuch's opinion did note that states have a compelling interest to “ensure equal access to goods and services” but that the law should not “interfere with a person's First Amendment rights.” Questionable Claims: Examining the Alleged False Information Presented by the Alliance Legal groups were quick to point out that Gorsuch's opinion contained at least two pieces of false information. One was that Colorado was forcing Smith to express “messages that she finds objectionable.” The state never forced Smith to create a message; it only required her to treat all customers equally. The other was that Colorado “admits that other businesses may deny service based on a customer's protected characteristics.” Impact of Elenis 303 creative will be felt immediately in the 22 states, including Colorado, that have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations That information came from the Alliance which alleged that Colorado officials said a black designer could refuse to create a website criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement, and a Muslim designer could decline to create a website disparaging the Quran. There was no record of any such statements. A Broader Perspective: The Status of Anti-Discrimination Laws Across the United States In the end, what does the decision mean? Its impact will be felt immediately in the 22 states, including Colorado, that have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations. These are the laws that enabled same-sex couples to secure wedding cakes, flowers, and other services from businesses open to the public. But those states cover just 50 percent of the population. The other half of Americans live in states with no such protections. So, 303 Creative will likely have little impact there, unless those states eventually pass such laws. One Colorado © 2023 Keen News Service. All rights reserved. Images created with AI tools. See Nerd Notice above Nerd Note on Illustrations The illustrations with Lisa Keen's reporting on the 303 Creative decision were generated without the author's participation with Midjourney based on a mix of prompts related to the case like “Imagined Gay couple — look like updated Jesus — tells Lisa Smith, a web designer, that heck will freeze over before their party planning artistry will be used to launch her fantasy of a business. Discriminating and the cynical manipulation of the legal system offends their strong beliefs/religion.” See below for what the prompt based on Biden's reference to a “license to discriminate” produced. AI systems are based on broad ingestion of cultural materials, so the results can be intriguing, but also represent a complicated mash up survey of how humans feel about, think about, and represent all these concepts while living up to the expectations of other humans. We edited images that just didn't get it. (Prompts = about a a gay couple and their wedding produced male/female at the altar images if the two concepts were not directly adjacent in the sentence.). Don't take too much from it all. Enjoy. Respond directly or in comments. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Candy Spelling “didn’t know” her first husband was gay. The 77-year-old author is mother to ‘90210 star Tori, 50, and former actor Randy, 44, with her late husband Aaron Spelling but initially married Howard Frederick in 1963 and revealed that the union came to an end in 1964 after a mere two years together because it turned out he had a sexual preference for men. Speaking on SiriusXM’s ‘Jeff Lewis Live’, she said: “I got married at 17. It sort of didn’t work out. Obviously. He died last year. Um, well, he was, uh…it turned out that he was a latent gay. I didn’t know that!” The Broadway produc… Read More View the full article

Published by uInterview.com Michael Imperioliblastd the Supreme Court’s decision to side in favor of a Christian web designer’s right to refuse to create websites that celebrate same-sex weddings. Imperioli took his opinion onto Instagram stating, “I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or tv show I’ve been in. Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to. USA! USA!” He additionally included a picture of a headline that reads, “Supreme Court protects web designer who won’t do g… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kevin Spacey has been accused of coming out as gay to “excuse” and avoid “taking responsibility” for his alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour. The Oscar-winning actor, 63, is on trial facing 12 charges of sexual assault, and London's Southwark Crown Court this week heard he was “hiding in plain sight” when he made a series of “vile” remarks before grabbing a man's private parts “with force” at a central London theatre in the mid-2000s. The court also heard one complainant felt “degraded” and “belittled” after the alleged incident. During cross-examination, the man – who is not being named fo… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story When Officer William Stewart arrived on the scene of a pro-LGBTQ rally on June 3 in Corbin, Ky., he found a self-identified Ku Klux Klan member menacing rally-goers with a loaded handgun. “Take your gun off!” Stewart said to 43-year-old KKK member Clayton Segebart, who puts his handgun on the ground. “He's got a gun! He's been trying to f—— shoot someone!” a protester yelled at the officer. But the dramatic scene, captured in a 15-minute police bodycam video obtained by Raw Story through a Kentucky Open Records Act request, didn't result in any arrests. Instead, Stewart decided not press c… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Republican lawmakers are now focusing their ire on an unlikely target: Barbie. Members of the GOP are accusing the makers of the hit movie of advancing the interests of the Chinese Communist Party, reported POLITICO on Friday — and it all has to do with a drawing seen in one part of the film. “The detail in question is a dashed line drawn on a map off the coast of Asia that critics have identified as the nine-dash line, a contested maritime boundary that Beijing draws more than a thousand miles off its own coast to claim the vast majority of the South China Sea as its territory,” reported Dani… Read More View the full article