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Published by BANG Showbiz English Cher has reportedly split from her rumoured fiancé Alexander ‘AE’ Edwards. The ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ singer, 76, has been dating Alexander, 37, since November, but a source told TMZ on Monday (02.05.23) the couple ended their relationship “a couple of weeks ago”, though a reason for the split was not disclosed. TMZ also said an insider had told them the pair “were never even engaged, despite multiple reports to the contrary”, adding they had just decided to “play into the speculation it was an engagement ring” AE had given the singer in December, which was worth a reported $250,000. Cher said at the time that she wished she could show her late mother, Georgia Holt, the ring, tweeting: “Woke up Min ago, and 1st thing… B4 I Opened my eyes, I Thought… I Need 2 Run To Moms and Show Her my ring.” Alexander gushed in March Cher was “amazing” with his son. The rapper has son Slash Electric, three, with his 39-year-old model ex-girlfriend Amber Rose – while Cher has kids Chaz Bono, 54, and 46-year-old Elijah Blue Allman – told TMZ: “Chaz is my guy and Elijah, Chaz and Elijah are my guys.” When asked if Cher was a good stepmother to his son, he added: “She is amazing.” And when quizzed about what made him fall in love with the singer and actress, he said: “Just Cher being Cher.” He also said he was focusing on raising his son now when asked if he wanted a kid with the singer. Referencing Amber’s 10-year-old son who she had with her rapper ex-husband Wiz Khalifa, 35, he added: “You know right now I’m just focused on Slash, my son, and his brother Sebastian.” Rumours Cher and Alexander were engaged started on Christmas Day when Cher shared a photo of a diamond ring being held by Alexander alongside the caption: “THERE R NO WORDS, ALEXANDER, A.E.” The singer has defended her and Alexander’s age gap and relationship by insisting they love each other. Last year she said they “kiss like teenagers” and has declared: “Love doesn’t know math, it sees.” She added in December: “On paper, it’s kind of ridiculous. But in real life, we get along great… and I think he’s quite handsome.” The couple first made headlines in November when they were photographed after a dinner date in Los Angeles holding hands. Cher previously dated Tom Cruise, 60, when they had a 16-year age gap. She has also been married twice – to Sonny Bono from 1964 to 1975 and Gregg Allman from 1975 to 1979 – and had son Chaz and Elijah with the late musicians respectively. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued Montana and its Republican House Speaker on Monday, accusing them of violating a Democratic transgender legislator’s First Amendment rights by barring her from the House floor after she protested a bill banning gender-affirming healthcare for minors. Montana’s governor signed the bill into law on Friday, two days after the Republican House majority voted to censure Zooey Zephyr and exclude her from the House chamber for the rest of the legislative session for saying in an April 18 floor debate that denying such care would lead to more suicides. “If you vote yes on this bill… I hope the next time there’s an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,” Zephyr said in the debate. Republicans accused her of violating decorum. The ACLU filed its lawsuit on Monday in Montana’s First Judicial District Court in the County of Lewis and Clark on behalf of Zephyr and four of her constituents, alleging that barring her from the House floor for her comments “extinguishes a vital part of the job her constituents elected her to do.” Montana House Speaker Matt Regier did not immediately respond to requests for comment. After the Republican supermajority in the legislature silenced Zephyr within the chamber until she apologized for her April 18 comments, her supporters protested at the statehouse on April 24. Seven demonstrators were arrested. Montana ACLU legal director Alex Rate said in a news release announcing Monday’s lawsuit that Regier had “unfairly, unjustly, and unconstitutionally” silenced Zephyr’s constituents by silencing her, and called his actions “a direct threat to the bedrock principles that uphold our entire democracy.” A Republican supermajority in the Tennessee statehouse earlier this month expelled two Democratic lawmakers who had protested in support of gun control, drawing national attention. Their county legislatures promptly reappointed them to their seats. (Reporting by Julia Harte; editing by Donna Bryson and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News About half of young trans and nonbinary youth in the U.S. seriously contemplated suicide in the past year, as a record-breaking number of bills restricting the rights of LGBTQ people — especially transgender youth — are enacted in state legislatures across the country. Overall, about four in 10 LGBTQ young people, ages 13 to 24, reported they “seriously considered” taking their lives in the past year, with transgender and nonbinary people reporting even higher rates than their peers. Nearly two in 10 actually attempted suicide. That’s according to the fifth annual survey on the mental health o… Read More View the full article

Published by The Kansas City Star JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge on Monday blocked Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s sweeping restrictions on transgender care just hours before they were set to take effect. The temporary restraining order, issued by St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Ellen H. Ribaudo, allows Missourians to continue accessing gender-affirming care until at least May 15. Ribaudo, appointed by former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon in 2015, wrote in an order that the plaintiffs in the case, which include two teenage transgender girls, were “at high risk of having their medical care interrupted for an … Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story A small tourist town in rural California known as the Danish Capital of America is at war with its own LGBTQ community. But all the way in the real Denmark, the actual mayor of Copenhagen has spoken out, demanding they cease and calling their behavior incompatible with Danish values, reported the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “For the last several months, the townsfolk of rural Solvang, population 6,000, have been waging an ugly battle over just how visible its LGBTQ+ community should be,” reported Hailey Branson-Potts. “The City Council shot down a proposal to hang pride-themed banners downtow… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Miami (AFP) – A Florida government panel allied with Governor Ron DeSantis has filed a countersuit against Disney on Monday, adding another layer to the escalating legal battle between the conservative governor and the entertainment giant. Disney, a major employer in the southern state with its Orlando-based Walt Disney World theme park, has been under increasing legal sanction by the governor after it spoke out last year against a DeSantis-backed education bill concerning LGBTQ youth. DeSantis, a rising conservative star with presidential ambitions, called out the “woke” corporation as part of his battle with institutions he deems too progressive. In February, DeSantis removed Disney’s control of its special self-governing district, which allowed the city-sized park to run its own zoning and infrastructure projects, exempt from state regulations. And on Wednesday, the DeSantis-appointed panel that then took control of the district voted to vacate the long-standing agreements that gave Disney effective powers of self-governance at the park. In response, Disney filed suit against DeSantis, alleging “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” for Disney’s political positions. Monday’s countersuit was filed by the same DeSantis-backed panel that voted to remove Disney’s self-governing abilities, in an effort to retain its control over the district and void past agreements with the company. The 44-year-old governor has flexed his fight against Disney as a badge of honor in his quest against liberal companies and institutions, with the fight occupying an entire chapter of his recent autobiography. View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega No one was safe during President Joe Biden‘s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, April 29. The 80-year-old POTUS not only roasted fired CNN anchor Don Lemon and controversial political commentator Tucker Carlson, he even made a handful of jokes about his own old age. mega “Look, I get that age is a completely reasonable issue,” the president told the crowd at the upscale event, before quipping, “You might think I don’t like Rupert Murdoch. That’s simply not true. How can I dislike a guy who makes me look like Harry Styles?” “Call me old, I call it being seasoned. You say I am ancient, I say I’m wise. You say I’m over the hill, Don Lemon would say, ‘That’s a man in his prime,'” he joked, referencing Lemon’s inflammatory on-air comments in which he implied Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was past her “prime” as a woman. mega President Joe Biden Trolled for Appearance on James Corden’s ‘Trash’ Talk Show Finale: ‘Glad I Didn’t Watch It’ Caitlyn Jenner Insists the United States Needs an ‘Alpha Male’ Like Donald Trump After Alleged Biden Administration Failures: ‘We Have Become a Joke’ Joe Rogan Declares Democratic Party Has ‘No Solution’ to 2024 Election Other Than ‘Joe Biden Dying Very Soon’ Biden also turned the heat on critics of his administration, noting that the White House Correspondents’ dinner is “one of the two great traditions of Washington,” joking that the other is “underestimating me and Kamala [Harris].” “But the truth is, we really have a record to be proud of,” he continued. “Vaccinated the nation, transformed the economy, urged historic victories and mid-term results. But the job isn’t finished. I mean… it is finished for Tucker Carlson.” mega Carlson was axed from his prestigious gig at Fox News on Monday, April 24, with reps for the company announcing FOX News Tonight would be filling Tucker Carlson Tonight‘s 8 p.m. time slot with a variety of guest hosts until a more permanent one can be chosen. Biden also took aim at the notoriously conservative news network themselves. “I’d call Fox ‘Honest, fair and truthful,'” he commented later in his speech. “But then I’d be sued for defamation.” That wasn’t the only time the news network and the embattled former tv host were made the butt of jokes that night. As OK! previously reported, comedian M.C. Roy Wood Jr. compared Carlson to Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix‘s cheating ex, Tom Sandoval. “The untouchable Tucker Carlson is out of a job… but to Tucker’s staff, I want you to know that I know what you’re feeling,” Wood began. “I work at The Daily Show, so I too have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake news program.” “Tucker got caught up,” he said. “Got caught up like that dude from Vanderpump Rules.” Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for! View the full article

Published by Reuters By Philip Pullella and Boldizsar Gyori BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Pope Francis on Sunday presided over a big outdoor Mass where he urged Hungarians not to close the door on migrants and those who are “foreign or unlike us,” in contrast to the anti-immigrant policies of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. More than 50,000 people gathered in and around the square behind Budapest’s iconic neo-gothic parliament building, a symbol of the capital on the Danube, to see the pope on the last day of his visit to the country. He continued a theme he began on the first day of his visit on Friday, when he warned against the dangers in Europe, but put it in gospel context, saying that closed doors were painful and contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Orban, a populist who was attending the Mass, sees himself as a protector of Christian values. He has said he would not allow Hungary to be transformed into an “immigrant country,” as he claims others in Europe have become, unrecognizable to its native peoples. In his homily, 86-year-old Francis said that if Hungarians wanted to follow Jesus, they had to shun “the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation; the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor”. Francis believes migrants fleeing poverty should be welcomed and integrated because they can culturally enrich host countries and boost Europe’s dwindling populations. He believes that while countries have a right to protect their borders, migrants should be distributed throughout the European Union. Orban’s government has built a steel fence on the border with Serbia to keep out migrants. In his homily, Francis also spoke against doors “closed to the world”. Peter Szoke, leader of the Hungarian chapter of the Sant’ Egidio peace community, who attended the Mass, agreed with the pope’s prescription. “There is great temptation to be self-referential, to refer everything only to ourselves, only to our own reality, whereas there are other realities too – the realities of the poor, the realities of other nations, the realities of wars, of injustices,” he said. Sunday’s homily was the second time Francis has used a religious context to make his point. On Friday, he quoted what St Stephen, the 11th century founder of Christian Hungary, had written about welcoming strangers. In his customary Sunday address to the crowd after the Mass, Francis mentioned the war in Ukraine, on Hungary s eastern border. He prayed to the Madonna to watch over both the Ukrainian and Russian people. “Instil in the hearts of peoples and their leaders the desire to build peace and to give the younger generations a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles not tombs, a world of brothers and sisters, not walls,” he said. The three-day trip is the pope’s first since he was admitted to hospital for bronchitis in March. (Reporting by Philip PullellaEditing by Bernadette Baum) View the full article

Published by Radar Online CBS Madonna has plans to drastically change her look ahead of her upcoming Celebration world tour, RadarOnline.com has learned. Back in February, Madonna clapped back at viewers who criticized her impossibly smooth face and pillowy lips at the Grammy Awards. MEGA “Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in,” the 64-year-old wrote on Instagram, adding, “I have never apologized for any of the creative choices I have made nor the way that I look or dress and I’m not going to start!” MEGA However, sources said with her upcoming tour set to kick off in July, the Vogue singer, known for continually reinventing herself, is reassessing her face. “Madonna’s hinted she wants more natural look and might be willing to get some of the fillers dissolved to speed up the process,” said an insider. “She’s desperate to undo some of the fillers and work she’s had done before she embarks on her tour.” REBOUND: Madonna, 64, Dating Chiseled 29-Year-Old Boxer — Days After Dumping Her Hunky Model Boyfriend Madonna Paid For Once-Homeless Brother Anthony’s Rehab Bill Before He Died Sealed With A Kiss: Madonna, 64, Confirms Budding Romance With Boy Toy Lover, 29, After Sitting Ringside To Cheer On Boxer Never miss a story — sign up for theRadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free. Instagram/@madonna It all started with a few nips and tucks, said the first source. “Then it turned into an endless cycle of fillers and lifts. She keeps tweaking and messing with her face and still, she’s not satisfied.” Now, the Michigan native is hoping to subtly correct the corrections. CBS “Her plan is to slowly dissolve some of the fillers and gets some nips and tucks to rejuvenate her face,” said the second source, adding, “She doesn’t want it to be too sudden or people will notice.” One thing about her appearance the mom of six is completely confident about — her rock-hard body. “It’s silly the way she gets worked up over aging,” said the source. “Especially when she’s in such great shape.” With the tour approaching, she’s putting in three hours a day in the gym, reported a source. “Madonna’s always been harder on herself than she is on others.” As we previously reported, Madonna was recently spotted with a new 29-year-old boy toy only months after breaking up with her 23-year-old backup dancer. View the full article

Published by New York Daily News After the Internal Revenue Service claimed Beyoncé owed nearly $2.7 million in back taxes from 2018 and 2019, she has now decided to file a petition disputing the claim. The 41-year-old music and fashion icon filed the petition earlier this month, and has also requested a trial over the matter in Los Angeles, reports People. A potential date for the trial is unknown. The IRS originally dealt Beyoncé a Notice of Deficiency, which claimed she owed a total of $805,850 from 2018 and $1,442,747 from 2019, in addition to $449,719.40 in combined penalties from the two-year period. Beyoncé’s legal tea… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appears to have just discovered adult film sites. As the keynote address at the Putnam County Lincoln Reagan Dinner, Greene discussed at length her discovery of adult film sites. She explained the only reason she had to become an expert in adult videos is because of Hunter Biden. According to Greene, the younger Biden, who does not work in politics or the White House, viewed such videos according to the investigation Rudy Giuliani did on the laptop ahead of the 2020 election. According to Greene, the laptop had a number of adult videos filmed that she knows a… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jasmin Savoy Brown says horror movies tend to be too “straight and white”. The ‘Scream VI’ star says the genre “never interested” her before she got cast in the Wes Craven-created franchise – which made a star out of Neve Campbell and still features some of the original cast like Courteney Cox and David Arquette. The 29-year-old actress told Elle magazine: “I was never interested in horror because it was just so straight and white. That’s just not interesting to me, aside from my one white woman show a year, which was ‘Big Little Lies’ and then ‘The White Lotus’.” Jasmin admitted that her character’s “queerness” was what attracted her to the sixth instalment – which was directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin – even though it was largely irrelevant to her storyline. She said: “Mindy’s queerness has nothing to do with her character arc, and no one cares. It’s such a big deal, because it’s not a big deal at all. I love the idea that some people who would not normally interact with a character like myself are now meeting Mindy in that franchise and hopefully in a way that is pleasant for them.” “It’s allowed me the space to not have to hide, even psychologically. There is something to be said for taking up space in your workplace as all that you are.” Meanwhile, the ‘Yellowjackets’ star also revealed she loves how she can’t “hide” playing the teenage version of Taissa Turner – whose adult iteration is brought to life by Tawny Cypress – in the Showtime series about a high school soccer team attempting to survive after their plane crashed. Jasmin said: “It’s allowed me the space to not have to hide, even psychologically. There is something to be said for taking up space in your workplace as all that you are.” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Florida Gov. Ronald Dion DeSantis — who styles himself a friend of freedom, including the right of corporations to express their political beliefs — has cast those principles into a Space Mountain black hole. Because Disney had the temerity to disagree with DeSantis politically, it became the target of his withering government attack. The compelling complaint filed Wednesday in federal court lays this bare, asserting: “It is a clear violation of Disney’s federal constitutional rights — under the Contracts Clause, the Takings Clause, the Due Process Clause and the First Amendment — for the Stat… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Montana’s governor on Friday enacted a Republican-backed ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, days after a transgender lawmaker protesting the bill was barred from the floor of the state legislature, sparking a national furor. The Republican House majority voted to censure Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, on Wednesday, excluding her from the House chamber for the rest of the legislative session for saying on April 18 that lawmakers backing the bill would have blood on their hands. The legislation, Senate Bill 99, passed the House of Representatives three days later, and Republican Governor Greg Gianforte signed it into law on Friday. Republican politicians have pressed a campaign to restrict special medical treatments prescribed for transgender youth, including hormone treatments and puberty blockers, with dozens of similar bills introduced in legislatures across the U.S. Opponents of transgender healthcare interventions say their long-term effects are not fully understood and that children and teenagers are too young to make such life-altering choices, even with parental supervision. Zephyr, a first-term representative from Missoula, declared that denying gender-affirming care to youngsters who feel at odds with their birth sex was “tantamount to torture” and that a ban would lead to more suicides. Republican House leaders initially reacted to Zephyr’s floor statements by turning off her microphone. The level of acrimony escalated on Monday of this week when Zephyr led a protest by her supporters chanting “Let her speak!” from the visitors gallery, ending in the arrest of seven demonstrators. The party-line 68-32 vote to formally exclude Zephyr from the House floor, gallery and anteroom on Wednesday prompted LGBTQ activists to call on supporters to join in a 24-hour protest event in Missoula for Friday and Saturday. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday called the Montana Republican House action against Zephyr a “denial of democratic values”. The censure has also drawn comparison to the Republican expulsion of two Black state representatives in Tennessee who were kicked out three weeks ago for leading a gun control protest on the House floor. The Tennessee lawmakers were promptly reappointed to their seats by their county legislatures and earned a trip to the White House. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Sonali Paul) View the full article

Published by The San Diego Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO — Two Escondido middle school teachers have sued their own school district and the California Board of Education over policies designed to ensure transgender students’ right to privacy. Rincon Middle School teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West believe they should be able to tell parents about their child’s transgender identity, according to the lawsuit. Escondido Union School District policy and California education guidelines state that transgender students’ gender identities must be kept private, including from parents, unless the students give consent. State officials sa… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Eric Lee – Pool via CNP / MEGA The wife of Chief Justice John Roberts is under the microscope after a whistleblower claimed she was paid more than $10 million in commissions by elite law firms in a bombshell complaint filing laid bare on Friday, RadarOnline.com has learned. The revelation came in the wake of Roberts denying the opportunity to go under oath at a hearing next month focused on the ethical rules governing the Supreme Court as well as considered changes going forward. Eric Lee – Pool via CNP / MEGA His wife, Jane, is now facing scrutiny after newly exposed allegations made by a former colleague, who claimed that she raked in quite a bit of cash as a headhunter for acclaimed law firms between 2007 and 2014. At least one of those firms argued a case before her husband after paying Jane, it was alleged. Jane was described as a “successful professional with sterling educational credits” and “accomplished in her own right” in the sworn affidavit of her ex-colleague Kendal B. Price, whose concerns were sent to congressional committees as part of a whistleblower complaint filed in December. Eric Lee – Pool via CNP / MEGA “I believe that at least some of her remarkable success as a recruiter has come because of her spouse’s position,” Price alleged. Price said that when he previously questioned why Roberts’ commissions were vastly higher than others, he was shunned by other recruiters and given the impression that was a subject not to be discussed. Meanwhile, other expert legal recruiters said that her earnings with such experience were plausible. Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free. Billionaire Nazi Memorabilia Collector Harlan Crow Defends Relationship With SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas’ Billionaire Donor Pal Did Have Business Before Court, Harlan Crow Denies Involvement & Knowledge Of Case Justice Neil Gorsuch Under Fire for Selling Property to Law Firm Exec 9 Days After He Was Confirmed, Did Not Report Buyer’s Identity Eric Lee – Pool via CNP / MEGA “When I found out that the spouse of the chief justice was soliciting business from law firms, I knew immediately that it was wrong,” Price, who worked alongside Jane at the legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, told Insider in a statement. “I realized that even the law firms who were Jane’s clients had nowhere to go. They were being asked by the spouse of the chief justice for business worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and there was no one to complain to.” Jane declined to comment to the publication, as did a spokesperson for the Supreme Court. Cashman, the president of Major, Lindsey & Africa, said that Jane was “one of several very successful recruiters” at the firm. He attributed his recruiters’ success to “the highest standards: candidate confidentiality, client trust, and professionalism.” As we previously reported, Roberts isn’t the only one surrounded by controversy. Justice Clarence Thomas has been under fire for failing to disclose 20 years of luxury trips with billionaire and Republican donor Harlan Crow. MEGA Justice Neil Gorsuch, is also embroiled in an ethics controversy of his own for a property sale. In a letter declining an invite to testify, Roberts and his fellow justices insisted their current ethical guidelines on gifts, travel, and financial deals are sufficient. View the full article

Published by uPolitics.com State legislators failed to pass a six-week abortion ban in Nebraska on Thursday, while a near-total ban failed simultaneously in South Carolina. Both Nebraska and South Carolina are deeply conservative states and have state legislatures controlled by Republicans – highlighting a potent internal conflict among Republicans who have begun questioning the political viability of further abortion-rights restrictions. Nebraska, the state with the only unicameral legislature in the country, did not pass the proposed “Heartbeat Act” that would ban abortions after six weeks except in instances of rape,… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Former President Donald Trump met with convicted January 6 Capitol rioter, Micki Larson-Olson in New Hampshire Thursday, praising her and giving her a hug before signing her backpack, reported The Washington Post. “Listen, you just hang in there. You guys are gonna be okay,” Trump told Larson-Olson, a Texas woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail for resisting police orders last year. According to NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard on Friday, Larson-Olson is unrepentant for her actions. And in an interview with Hillyard last year, she called for the execution of anyone who certified the 2020 electi… Read More View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune A poignant irony came wrapped in the news that Harry Belafonte had died of congestive heart failure Tuesday at age 96. Surely, one easily imagines, the iconic singer, actor and activist would take issue with that diagnosis. Although his body had failed after almost a century of history-making activism and award-winning artistic achievements, his spirit never did. It was a life rich with achievements and honors. The “King of Calypso,” as Harold George Belafonte Jr., was called after his runaway 1956 hit “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” would go on to win three Grammy Awards, an Emmy and a Tony, … Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Mary and her teenage child Jasper (these are pseudonyms) clasp hands in a public park in Minneapolis, where they moved from Texas to ensure Jasper's safety amid anti-transgender bias Minneapolis (AFP) – With bills targeting transgender youth multiplying at an alarming rate, Mary knew it was time to leave Texas — and fast. So she looked for places she could raise her child safely, and landed on the northern US state of Minnesota, clear across the country. “The idea that the state (of Texas) would betray us that way, I still can’t really wrap my head around that,” said Mary, sitting in a Minneapolis park with her 16-year-old child Jasper on an unusually warm April day. “I feel like this is much, much safer,” Mary added. Minnesota public officials have pointedly worked to make it that way, turning the state into a self-styled “refuge” for transgender children whose rights and access to medical care are being threatened elsewhere in the United States. Mary and Jasper aren’t even their real names, as the duo chose to remain anonymous when speaking to the media amid increasing hate online targeting transgender people. Like many Texans, Mary and Jasper — who identifies as a boy, and uses they/them pronouns — have a strong affinity for the Lone Star State. And in Minnesota, they’re far from family and friends. At the same time, the warm welcome they received up north was a stark contrast from the increasingly conservative atmosphere they faced in Texas. School officials here didn’t bat an eye when Jasper wanted to use a name that didn’t match their birth certificate. The ease of the whole process brought Mary to tears. ‘Coffin or closet’ As culture wars around abortion, education, racism — and now, transgender children — engulf the country, states’ divergent responses are causing some families to pull up stakes. Some Republican-controlled states have passed laws to prohibit children from using bathrooms that don’t match their sex assigned at birth, despite studies that show there is no increased risk of assault, and have banned certain medical treatments. In Texas, the governor ordered the state agency tasked with fighting child abuse to launch inquiries into the parents of transgender children — an effort currently tied up in the court system. Meanwhile, states like California, Illinois and Minnesota have declared themselves “sanctuaries” for transgender youth. Last week, the Minnesota legislature passed a “trans refuge” bill that would guarantee legal protection for transgender people coming to Minnesota from elsewhere for medical care. “We’re trying to not just say it’s okay to be trans, but you can come here and be safe,” said Leigh Finke, Minnesota’s first openly transgender lawmaker, who sponsored the initiative. “We know what it means to force people not to be themselves, and it’s coffin or closet.” ‘Takes my breath away’ Access to health care for transgender minors is “lifesaving,” said Angela Goepferd, program director for gender health at Children’s Minnesota, one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States. Children with access to gender-affirming care “have less anxiety, less depression, they think about suicide less often and they act upon those suicidal thoughts less often,” said Goepferd. That care can include hormone blockers to prevent the onset of puberty, birth control (to prevent menstruation), as well as estrogen or testosterone. Gender-affirming care is a complex issue and one that defies partisan divides. Even some progressive parents say they worry about treatment being offered too early, as they fear kids could ultimately reassess their gender identity — and might regret surgery. Surgery however “is almost exclusively reserved for people who are over the age of 18 years old,” Goepferd said, adding: “There is a big manufactured controversy around that.” “There may be some people — and by some I mean less than one percent of older adolescents, 16 or 17 — who may access a type of surgery called a chest surgery,” Goepferd said. “But the type of surgery that is often described in legislatures in this country is genital surgery. And that is not a type of surgery that is done in children or adolescents.” Most important in gender-affirming care is “meeting with families, answering questions, helping figure out how to support a young person in school, in their community, with their family,” Goepferd said. For kids who have reached puberty or older, “it may involve these medications.” As policies further diverge between Republican- and Democratic-controlled states, Finke expects “thousands of families” to come to Minnesota. Mary considers herself lucky: She, her husband, and Jasper had the means to leave Texas. But she knows families “who can’t and who are just holding their breath.” Despite the upheaval, Jasper is still nostalgic about Texas, and plans on returning for vacation this summer. But Mary is hopeful Jasper will adapt to their new home. “Every time Minnesota does something that’s trans affirming, or trans welcoming, it still kind of takes my breath away,” she says. View the full article

Published by DPA Twitter has been in steady turmoil since its takeover by the world’s richest person. Besides the drive to make money with subscriptions, the right-wing political views of Elon Musk have become ever more apparent on the platform in the six month’s under his leadership. Britta Pedersen/dpa In October, polarizing billionaire and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk purchased the polarizing social media platform Twitter for $44 billion, promising to change how the site operated. In various statements, most of them tweets, Musk made allusions to decreased moderation on the platform, pledging to make the site a bastion of “free speech.” In the months that followed, he implemented several new initiatives at the company and the site, including firing hundreds of employees, reinstating hundreds of previously banned accounts, stripping badges of verification from most users who did not pay $8 per month for a Twitter Blue subscription, and pledging to address the site’s bot problem. But new research shows that the site also underwent another change after Musk took over — it became more hateful. According to data collected by researchers from USC, UCLA, UC Merced and Oregon State University, daily use of hate speech by those who previously posted hateful tweets nearly doubled after Musk finalized the sale. And the overall volume of hate speech also doubled sitewide. The research was conducted by Keith Burghardt, Matheus Schmitz and Goran Muric of USC, UCLA’s Daniel Fessler, Daniel Hickey of Oregon State and Paul Smaldino of UC Merced. The group studied the tweets of users who had made hateful postings a month before and after Twitter was sold and also collected a sampling from the general user pool. The researchers first developed a “hate lexicon” of 49 racist, antisemitic and homophobic and transphobic terms. Then, they examined the pre- and post-sale postings using an artificial intelligence tool that scanned for the hateful terms and their frequency, weeding out “non-toxic,” or non-hateful, uses of the terms. “We first had to create a set of words that we could determine as being hateful,” Burghardt, a computer scientist with the Information Sciences Institute at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, said in a news release. “Our aim was to find words that were relatively high precision, meaning that if people are using these words, it’s unlikely they’re being used in a non-hateful manner.” The volume of hate speech posted by hateful users surged after the sale was finalized, although researchers noted that hate speech on Twitter was on the rise even before Musk bought it. At the outset of their project, the researchers hypothesized that, with Musk nodding toward less restrictive policies, hate speech would increase. But they were unsure by just how much. “I didn’t have any expectations one way or the other,” Fessler, who is director of the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute, said in an interview with The Times, “because it’s very difficult to gauge in advance. You don’t know what the population of users potentially producing such content is, you don’t know what the size of the population is or what their frequency of tweeting and retweeting is.” But the results shocked Burghardt. “What was surprising was … that this stuff had increased so dramatically,” he told The Times. “We had not expected that hate users would actually be using more hate words after Elon Musk joined Twitter.” Fessler noted that expressions of intolerance had been on the rise since the start of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and that Musk “winked at those sentiments often enough that a population of active or potential Twitter users who shared those views recognized the opportunity they were being given.” “From a kind of 30,000-foot level,” Fessler said, “the Twitter effect is really reflective of larger trends in society.” Researchers noted that they could not “prove a causal relationship between Musk’s takeover and hate speech.” The CEO’s changes to moderation are “poorly documented,” they said. The research is an important step in identifying how and why people can become radicalized online by what has been termed stochastic terrorism, in which hate speech is used to incite violent acts, Burghardt said. Social media could play a role in that radicalization, he said, but more research is needed. Once users join these hate groups, even on social media sites that are not traditionally hateful, Burghardt said, they’re immediately more hateful and more antagonistic. “We expect that, once they join these sites, they become more likely to advocate violence,” he said, “and then some small proportion actually commit these acts.” But despite the documented increase in hate speech, Fessler noted that it was coming from a small population. “This is in no way a majority view,” he said. “And society as a whole is … increasingly tolerant of difference and increasingly diverse.” Twitter has substantial influence despite its relatively small size, so Fessler is concerned that it’s apparently subject to the whims of one person — Musk. “It is worrisome when a platform with the reach of Twitter can be purchased by one individual and even modest attempts to turn it to more socially constructive ends … are deconstructed and removed,” Fessler said. Twitter’s blue ticks, once a clear sign that an account was authentic, are becoming increasingly more confusing and controversial. Fabian Sommer/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said. Disney on Wednesday sued DeSantis to prevent the state from ending the company’s virtual autonomy in central Florida where it has its theme parks. The suit comes a year after the company criticized a Florida law banning classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity with younger children, prompting DeSantis to repeatedly attack “woke Disney.” Disney said DeSantis’ actions amounted to a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” The company’s 73-page lawsuit is filled with blunt warnings from DeSantis’ memoir, fundraising material, interviews and announcements that the entertainment giant had “crossed a line” into the realm of politics and had to be reined in. Ken Paulson, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University, said the governor may come to regret his attacks on the company. “There’s a very good chance that he’s going to pay for those in a court of law,” said Paulson, the director of the school’s Free Speech Center. DeSantis has called Disney’s lawsuit a politically motivated attack and accused the company of lacking accountability. The governor’s spokesman said on Wednesday that his office was unaware of any legal right that allows a company to operate its own government or maintain special privileges, a reference to the decades-old district that is home to Disney World. Legal experts said DeSantis may have sound policy reasons to reconstitute the authority formerly known as Reedy Creek Improvement District, but if Disney can show it was done as retaliation, the company has a strong case. The fallout between Florida’s biggest employer and its governor with presidential aspirations began last year. Pressured by its employees, Disney spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education Act that banned discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for young students, dubbed by critics as the “don’t say gay” bill. DeSantis hit back, marshalling the Republican legislature to eventually seize control from the company of the special district that helped develop Disney World. Disney claimed in its lawsuit that the state adopted a “targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech.” The U.S. Supreme Court in a 2010 case known as Citizens United ruled that government could not limit political speech of corporations and other entities under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. HISTORY AND CONTEXT For Disney to prevail, a jury would have to find a connection between the company’s comments and the changes to the development district, renamed under DeSantis’ control as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. DeSantis may argue that government has given the company special tax benefits over the years and Florida is entitled to change that. But Leslie Kendrick, the director of the Center for the First Amendment at University of Virginia School of Law, said it will come down to the reason for the changes. “First Amendment law would say that is problematic if it’s done because of the speaker’s protected speech,” Kendrick said. DeSantis’ tough talk toward Disney is cited throughout the lawsuit, including 18 quotes referring to some form of “woke Disney.” The lawsuit cites an opinion piece DeSantis wrote for the Wall Street Journal in which he said when companies like Disney use their power to “advance a woke agenda,” leaders must fight back or they surrender “the political battlefield to the militant left.” Legal experts said examples of retaliation for political speech often involve state employees. One business example Kendrick cited involved a newspaper tax imposed on publications with a circulation of 20,000 in Louisiana in 1934, influenced by the state’s powerful senator, Huey Long. The law was largely seen as punishing a student paper critical of the former governor, even though it impacted 13 publications, many of which sued. The lawsuit over the tax eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck it down in a case known as Grosjean v American Press Co. The justices said the tax was seen as a deliberate attempt to limit the spread of information and it was “suspicious” the way law was developed. “History and context really matters,” Kendrick said. “If there is evidence that you did it for reasons that implicate the First Amendment, to punish the speaker, then we have a problem.” (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by NJ.com Not long after Jeffrey Machno was hired as a part-time library assistant by the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center in 2020, he began to be recognized for the creativity he brought to the library’s programs. With many library patrons stuck at home during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he hosted a live trivia event on the library’s Facebook page and developed other live and online programs. He also served as emcee for the 2021 Secaucus Got Talent competition. The library assistant was featured on local TV news stations and news sites heralding him has a “community hero” du… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney returned to social media this week to break her silence regarding the backlash she faced – and continues to face –after partnering with Bud Light, RadarOnline.com has learned. In a sudden development to come after Mulvaney, 26, disappeared from social media for weeks after partnering with Anheuser-Busch to promote Bud Light last month, the popular influencer returned to Instagram on Thursday to address her nearly 13 million followers in connection to the controversy. Although Mulvaney initially planned to “take the back seat and let [her critics] tucker themselves out,” she broke her silence on Thursday to express how “dehumanizing” the backlash has been on her. “I’ve been offline for a few weeks and a lot has been said about me, some of which is so far from my truth that I was hearing my name and I didn’t even know who they were talking about sometimes,” Mulvaney said. “It’s a very dissociative feeling. And it was so loud that I didn’t feel part of the conversation, so I decided to take the back seat and just let them tucker themselves out.” “But I’ve always tried to love everyone, you know, even the people who make it really, really hard,” Mulvaney continued. “And I think it’s okay to be frustrated with someone or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel.” “I just, I don’t think that’s right,” she said. “Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.” Mega The 26-year-old trans influencer then went on to admit she was “nervous” that her millions of followers and fans would “start believing” what was being said about her amid the Bud Light backlash. “I’m embarrassed to even tell you this, but I was nervous that you were going to start believing those things that they were saying about me, since it is so loud,” she said. “But I’m just going to go ahead and trust that the people who know me and my heart won’t listen to that noise.” ‘Woke’ Bud Light Executive Behind Controversial Dylan Mulvaney Partnership Takes Leave Of Absence Bud Light Plans to ‘Spend Heavily’ on Re-vamped Marketing Campaign After Dylan Mulvaney Controversy Whoopi Goldberg Defends Bud Light Over Backlash From Conservatives Like Megyn Kelly Over Dylan Mulvaney Controversy While Mulvaney initially became popular on TikTok in 2022 for detailing her gender transition in daily videos on the platform, she said on Thursday that she plans to stop “sharing parts” of herself that “have nothing to do” with her transgender identity. “What I’m interested in is getting back to making people laugh and to never stop learning,” she said. “And going forward, I want to share parts of me on here that have nothing to do with my identity. And I’m hoping those parts will still be exciting to you and will be enough.” Mega “And to those of you who support me and choose to see my humanity even if you don’t fully understand or relate to me: thank you.” As RadarOnline.com previously reported, both Mulvaney and Bud Light came under fire last month after she partnered with the Anheuser-Busch beer brand to promote the NCAA March Madness tournament. A boycott was quickly called against Bud Light and a number of celebrities – such as Kid Rock, Megyn Kelly, and Caitlyn Jenner – began shading the now-embattled beer brand. Meanwhile, the beer brand reportedly suffered a whopping $5 billion market value dip as a result of the boycott – with Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth releasing a statement in an effort to quell the ferocious firestorm. Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free. Mega “We have thousands of partners, millions of fans and a proud history supporting our communities, military, first responders, sports fans and hard-working Americans everywhere,” Whitworth said earlier this month. “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” View the full article