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Published by Reuters KAMPALA (Reuters) – When Frank Mugisha came out two decades ago, being gay in Uganda could be lonely and uncomfortable, but it was rarely a matter of life and death. Since then, as Mugisha has emerged as the country’s most prominent LGBTQ rights activist, the perils have multiplied. In 2011, his friend and colleague David Kato was bludgeoned to death. Mugisha regularly receives death threats. Politicians and religious organisations have fanned anti-gay sentiment and lobbied for harsh legislation, culminating in parliament’s passage last month of a bill that would criminalise even identifying as LGBTQ. “The Ugandan population has been radicalised to fear and hate homosexuals,” Mugisha, 38, told Reuters during an interview outside the capital, Kampala. “If I was seven, nine, twelve, fourteen, I don’t think I would tell anyone I am gay right now,” he said. And yet, Mugisha says he will not give an inch in the face of the new bill, which is awaiting President Yoweri Museveni’s signature. The bill passed with near unanimous support in parliament. If Museveni signs it – as he is widely expected to – Mugisha’s work could land him in jail under a provision that punishes the “promotion” of homosexuality with up to 20 years in prison. But Mugisha said he feels an obligation to fight back on behalf of LGBTQ Ugandans, many of whom have left the country or fled their homes for safe houses since the bill was passed. “I guess I am going to be in trouble a lot because I am not going to stop,” Mugisha said. The bill also imposes the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality, which includes having gay sex while HIV-positive. COMING OUT A practising Catholic typically seen in a blue suit and white shirt, Mugisha had what he calls a normal childhood, going to school and playing soccer in his Kampala neighbourhood. He realised he was gay as early as the age of seven but did not start to come out until he was 14. His parents turned to prayer and traditional healers before landing somewhere between denial and acceptance, he said. Mugisha said he encountered no overt hostility from friends about his sexuality, although some kept their distance for fear they would be suspected of being gay themselves. In 2007, Mugisha took over leadership of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), an advocacy group he had earlier joined as an activist. In the following years, he saw a hardening of anti-LGBTQ views, which he attributes to campaigning by ultra-conservative Christian groups, some from the United States. “Homophobia and this whole anti-gay sentiment are Western. They are not Ugandan,” he said. Same-sex relations were first criminalised in Uganda under British colonial rule. Mugisha said historically Ugandans “frowned” upon homosexuality but did not want to harm gay people. Ugandan officials, by contrast, often say LGBTQ rights are a Western imposition. Mugisha’s friend Kato was killed in 2011 months after a local newspaper printed the names, photographs and addresses of him and others in the LGBTQ community and called for them to be hanged. The police said the murder was unconnected to his sexual identity, but Mugisha is certain that it was. He considered leaving Uganda then, but he stayed and led the campaign against a law enacted in 2014 that stiffened penalties for same-sex relations. That law was ultimately voided by the courts on procedural grounds and Mugisha is hoping for a similar outcome this time. “Many people are going to … challenge this law,” he said. “Looking at this legislation, I do not think it will survive.” (Editing by Aaron Ross and Nick Macfie) View the full article

Published by GB News Harry Potter is set to be brought to life in a new decade-long television series, it has been revealed. The series will be based on author JK Rowling’s books and will be produced over the course of a decade, with each series based on one of the seven books. It will feature a different cast to the films, with each season promising to be “authentic to the original books” and bring Harry Potter to new audiences. The series will be available on Max, a streaming service from Warner Bros, the production company behind the original films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. “The n… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is facing strong criticism for mocking and attacking the U.S. Armed Forces and a U.S. Navy JAG Officer who spoke in a video published Wednesday by the U.S. Navy JAG Corps on its Instagram account. In the video, Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) Audrey Knutson tells about an event held aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier named after the 38th President and commissioned by Donald Trump, the 45th President, both Republicans. The event appears to be one on November 11, 2022, which was sponsored by a suicide prevention group and the ship’s Gay, Le… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Billy Porter’s dream role of playing writer James Baldwin has turned into reality. The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner has been tapped to co-write, co-produce and star in an upcoming biopic about the cultural icon for Allen Media Group Motion Pictures. The film will be based on the 1994 book “James Baldwin: A Biography,” written by David Leeming. The University of Connecticut emeritus English professor was an assistant and friend of the trailblazing scribe for 25 years. Porter will team up with frequent collaborator Dan McCabe on the script. Baldwin was an openly gay, African Ame… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine (Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s newly formed oversight board is seeking to assert control over development in two cities where Walt Disney World Resort is located, the latest twist in a battle for authority over the company’s Florida theme parks. A resolution, seen on Tuesday by Reuters, would give the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board the power to review and evaluate development in the 25,000-square acres of property in and around Walt Disney Co’s theme parks. The district would hold “superior authority and control” over planning, zoning and other land use in the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, under a Florida law that formed the state-appointed oversight board. Disney’s major theme parks — The Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom — are within the city limits of Bay Lake, while the Disney Springs retail area sits in Lake Buena Vista. Some had speculated that Disney would use its influence over these two municipalities to maintain its autonomy over its resort. A hearing on the resolution is scheduled for April 19. A spokesperson for Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. A spokesperson for the oversight board referred inquiries to an attorney, who was not immediately available for comment. State Republicans last year targeted Disney after it publicly clashed with DeSantis, widely considered a 2024 presidential candidate, over a law that restricts classroom instruction of gender and sexual orientation. In a move that current Disney CEO Bob Iger called retaliation, Florida lawmakers passed legislation that ended Disney’s virtual autonomy in developing 25,000 acres in central Florida where its theme parks are located. But before the takeover by DeSantis’s appointees, Disney pushed through changes to the special tax district agreement that limit the board’s action for decades. DeSantis has asked the Florida inspector general to investigate what he called “collusive and self-dealing arrangements” that aim to nullify recently passed legislation, and “defy the will of Floridians”. He said the prior board’s actions appear to represent improper delegation of authority, among other violations. (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Sonali Paul) View the full article

Published by The Mercury News ANTIOCH, Calif. — For years, Antioch Police Department officers routinely used private text messaging groups to flout their racist views, using slurs in front of superiors without fear of reprisal. The horrific language was also common at work, the texts show, even in front of internal affairs investigators. Officers joked about harming Black residents — one offered to buy a “steak dinner” for anyone who shot Mayor Lamar Thorpe with a projectile used on protesters. Others joked about committing civil rights violations and eliciting false confessions. The comments were met with laughter, indiff… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – Deadly mass shootings in the United States have fueled a torrent of online disinformation targeting an unlikely group: transgender people. Before police identified the gunman who killed five people Monday at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, users on the fringe internet forum 4chan speculated that the shooter was transgender. Once Connor Sturgeon was named, right-wing commentators such as former Donald Trump aide Sebastian Gorka shared screenshots of the suspect’s LinkedIn page, pointing out that it included his pronouns. The narrative is the latest to fuel anti-LGBTQ disinformation on platforms such as Twitter, which analysts say has increased sharply since Elon Musk bought the company. After a late-March shooting at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, a former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant and transgender activist who goes by the name Miss Peppermint and is based in New York said she was shocked to see her name and photo above a tweet she never wrote. “At first I thought that I must have been hacked,” Peppermint told AFP. “Clearly I didn’t make that statement. It’s a statement that I would never have made.” The tweet said transgender people planning to “commit a heinous crime” should “clear your social media” to avoid potential blowback. Several conservative influencers shared it after police identified Nashville shooter Audrey Hale as transgender. Over the course of two days, Peppermint faced a barrage of harassment. “I was receiving actual death threats, people saying we’re coming with our guns for you, we know where you are,” she said. The disinformation that spread after the Nashville shooting came from “very online, right-wing troll accounts, who are always ready to capitalize on an emergency or a disaster,” said Heron Greenesmith, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates. Activists say they worry about more fallout from such falsehoods, which come as more US states pass bills limiting gender-affirming health care and LGBTQ rights. “It is awful that anti-trans extremists are hijacking this moment to baselessly lie, spread disinformation and attack trans people, including Peppermint,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization. Lack of moderation Anti-LGBTQ disinformation thrives on Twitter because “the platform prioritizes conflict,” Greenesmith said. Twitter has seen a spike in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric since Musk’s takeover of the company, according to a March report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Posts mentioning the narrative that LGBTQ people are “grooming” children jumped 119 percent between October 2022 and March 2023, the group found. Five accounts promoting the claims generate up to $6.4 million per year in ad revenue, according to CCDH’s estimates. These accounts consist of right-wing influencers, some of whom were once suspended from Twitter for breaching the company’s hate speech policies. They were reinstated after Musk purchased the company. Exacerbating the spread of disinformation is Twitter’s updated verification policy, which no longer distinguishes between public figures and users who subscribe to Twitter Blue. “Verification was a piece of content moderation. Another piece that seems to be falling by the wayside,” Greenesmith said. Twitter Blue allows users to pay $8 per month to display a blue checkmark on their profile. But some have taken advantage of the new system to impersonate celebrities — including Peppermint. “While it hurts to get lied about, it’s even worse to see anti-trans activists using this moment to spread lies and disinformation about trans leaders,” she said in an Instagram post addressing the tweet impersonating her. Twitter responded to an AFP request for comment with a poop emoji, an automatic response that Musk launched in March. View the full article

Published by Global Voices Screenshot of a YouTube video from the bloggers YouTube channel In December 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a law enforcing an all-encompassing ban on so-called “LGBT propaganda” that included the internet, mass media, literature, cinema, and advertising. Violating the law entails administrative liability in the form of large fines; for foreigners and stateless persons it may result in expulsion from Russia. Apart from widespread censorship, the “anti-propaganda” law leads to unprecedented pressure on LGBTQ+ people and the organizations helping them. A few days ago, bloggers Gela Gogishvili and Ha… Read More View the full article

Published by GB News Daniel Radcliffe told a group of transgender children that adults concerned about kids changing their gender are “condescending”. The Harry Potter actor spoke to six trans and non-binary children at a roundtable organised by LGBTQ suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project where he told them that adults should just “trust kids to tell us who they are”. It comes after Radcliffe took a swipe at JK Rowling saying that younger fans were “hurt” by her transgender views. He was told at the round table by 11-year-old trans girl, Daley: “I learned out of the cradle that I was a boy: ‘I should like … Read More View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — When The Warehouse made the top seven list of most endangered buildings in Chicago facing possible demolition, preservationists sprung to action to save the West Loop industrial building where legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles elevated Chicago to a higher musical levelwith “house music.” Besides playing soul-moving music through sound systems created by a New York engineer, Knuckles brought together partygoers from all backgrounds. Some have said The Warehouse was Chicago’s Paradise Garage and Studio 54. “Frankie Knuckles would take the patrons of The Warehouse on a musical journey,” sai… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s culture wars have begun. Almost six months after taking office, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government is pushing out bills that promise to promote national identity, defend the traditional family, protect cultural heritage and hold back migrants. Recent proposals include a bill to safeguard the Italian language and a ban on lab-grown food. The government is also making it harder for same-sex parents to register their children, in a move which drew condemnation from the European Parliament. Critics say the welter of legislation is aimed at disguising the fact that the coalition is struggling to make headway in more crucial areas, such as utilising European Union post-COVID-19 pandemic funds. “These ‘identity’ choices can spark tensions with the EU in the long term, especially when it comes to civil rights issues,” said Massimiliano Panarari, a political communication expert at Unimercatorum university. Last month Brussels froze a 19-billion-euro ($20.76 billion) tranche of the money, requesting clarification on Rome’s efforts to meet the agreed policy targets needed to obtain the transfers. On civil rights, Meloni vaunts the importance of traditional family values, in a country which already lags behind most of western Europe on LBGT rights. Government lawmakers say policies to protect heritage were always going to be a key part of their agenda, and Italy has for years undervalued its rich, historic patrimony. “We do not have diamonds, or big oil and gas resources,” said Fabio Rampelli, a senior member of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party. “Italian mines are made up of culture, gastronomy, language, arts, fashion, history, archaeology and monuments. This is what we can offer to the world, and what we can improve.” Taking the lead, Rampelli last month put forward a bill proposing fines of up to 100,000 euros ($109,000) for Italian companies and public entities that use foreign terms, most notably English, instead of the national language in their official documents or communication. The opposition Five Star Movement ridiculed the idea, pointing out that the government itself had added the English term “Made in Italy” to the title of the industry minister when it took office last year. “Identity messages are meant to tell the electorate that Brothers of Italy will not give up its line,” analyst Panarari said. ‘GREAT IN THE WORLD’ Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida defended the ban on lab-grown food by saying it was incompatible with Italy’s culinary history and potentially dangerous for health. Meloni herself has called for the creation of a “Made in Italy” high school to teach students the creative and business skills which made the nation “great in the world”, a proposed law presented by her party said. When Meloni won power last year, there was widespread concern in Europe about her post-fascist political roots, fearing she would follow the authoritarian path trod by her old political friend – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. She has largely defied her critics, avoiding tough confrontation at home and clashes with Brussels, which was a regular target of her fiery rhetoric in previous years But she has not rowed back on electoral promises to be hard on immigration. One of her first acts was to curb the operations of charity rescue ships in an effort to reduce the time they could spend at sea looking for migrants. In her autobiography “I am Giorgia”, published in 2021, Meloni compared mass immigration to the forced transfers of populations in the old Soviet Union, aimed at diluting local customs and religions. “The right wants to preserve these same deep-rooted identities that the left wants to cancel,” she wrote, warning of the dangers of “ethnic substitution” and the dilution of Europe’s Christian culture. Opinion polls suggest that voters are broadly supportive of the government’s actions, with backing for Brothers of Italy seen at 29% in recent polls, slightly lower than at the start of the year but up from the 26% it scored in the October ballot. “I believe these are attempts to divert attention away from the real challenges, including the economy, and to lure us into an ideological debate,” said Alessandro Alfieri, a senator with the opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD). Other critics on the left accuse the government of being stuck in a defensive pose, wanting time to stand still – a charge the culture minister rejects. “Being conservative means relying on the sense of history, on tradition to seek the way to the future, it does not mean rejecting change,” Gennaro Sangiuliano told a seminar last week on the construction of an Italian cultural identity. “It means mastering (change), orienting it to the deep sense of the history of a community.” (Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Crispian Balmer, Gavin Jones and) View the full article

Published by Raw Story Missouri State Sen. Mike Moon (R) this week defended the rights of parents to marry off children as young as 12 years old. The Springfield News-Leader reports that Moon made the remarks during a contentious debate over banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors in which Democratic State Rep. Peter Meredith accused him of hypocrisy for supporting the bill despite positioning himself as a champion of parents’ rights. “I’ve heard you talk about parents’ rights to raise their kids how they want,” argued Meredith. “In fact, I just double-checked, you voted no on making it illegal for kids… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Created by Dana Terrace, “The Owl House,” which is now available in its entirety on Disney+, follows Luz, a human teenager who stumbles into an alternate dimension known as the demon realm. Disney Channel/dpa From the very first episode of “The Owl House,” its central message has been clear: Embrace your inner weirdo. “Us weirdos have to stick together,” protagonist Luz Noceda says in the series premiere, rallying a group of oddball strangers to revolt against their unjust imprisonment. “And nobody should be punished for who they are.” This declaration became increasingly resonant over the course of “The Owl House’s” three-season run, which concluded Saturday, as the show repeatedly broke new ground for LGBTQ representation in kid-friendly animation. Nurturing a central queer teen romance in a world that embraces a full spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities, the series has been a vital beacon of queer perseverance and joy at a time when right-wing activists and politicians have become increasingly hostile to the LGBTQ community, often targeting queer and trans youth. Created by Dana Terrace, “The Owl House,” which is now available in its entirety on Disney+, follows Luz, a human teenager who stumbles into an alternate dimension known as the demon realm. A spunky, spirited fantasy lover with a penchant for getting carried away, Luz doesn’t quite fit in in the human world, so she decides to begin training as a witch rather than go back home. No less an outsider in the demon realm — she’s still human, after all — Luz finds her place among fellow misfits like her mentor, Eda, a rebellious witch who refuses to conform, and the tiny but mighty beast King. Her circle of confidants grows to include classmates from her magic school, including frenemy-turned-crush Amity, who Luz eventually starts dating. (For all the reasons Luz had been made to feel like an outsider in either world, being bi was not one of them.) In the series finale, Luz and her fellow weirdos overcome the odds to triumph over a powerful, manipulative man whose fear and self-righteous ambition have fueled his mission to annihilate everything he refuses to understand. And they save the demon realm without compromising who they are or what they believe in. This is not the time for subtlety. “The Owl House” debuted in 2020, at a time when LGBTQ visibility on TV was on an upswing. Thanks to the behind-the-scenes efforts of queer creators on shows such as Cartoon Network’s “Steven Universe” and Netflix’s “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power,” queer characters were increasingly front and center and thriving on screen, even in kid-friendly animation. And though Disney had long been criticized as behind the curve compared with other studios and platforms when it came to LGBTQ representation — the company’s own employees pointed to this track record when calling out the company’s lackluster initial response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year — “The Owl House” raised the bar. Besides featuring Disney’s first bisexual protagonist, the show set a number of queer precedents with its inclusion of a central queer romance, same-sex kisses, nonbinary characters and more. That the representation is unambiguous and casual — these LGBTQ characters just exist and their identities are not a big deal — makes it that much more meaningful. “The Owl House” was even awarded a Peabody in 2021 “for building a wildly inventive other world that makes room for everyone and giving queer kids a welcome template alongside which to explore their own budding creative energies.” Of course, “The Owl House” is more than a collection of representational milestones. It’s a fun, funny and heartfelt series that celebrates individuality, family, kindness and creativity set in a creepy, vibrant world. But its legacy as such an unabashedly queer show is one of the primary reasons the show concluding after an especially short third season stings. When “The Owl House” premiered, there were other ongoing shows that were also unapologetically queer, such as the aforementioned “Steven Universe” and “She-Ra,” with some titles still on the way, like Netflix’s “Dead End: Paranormal Park.” It seemed like television was finally catching up to reflect the real world, where mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ people is the norm and marriage equality is a recognized right. Kids were getting to see shows that I wish I had growing up. Times have quickly changed. Like “The Owl House,” most of the other standout LGBTQ-centric animated shows have concluded or have been canceled. States have passed or proposed an increasing number of anti-LGBTQ laws, including those that prevent any mention of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, ban gender-affirming care, bar students from competing in sports or using restrooms that align with their gender identity, force teachers to out trans students and more. Not to mention the intensifying movement to ban books, including those that even hint at LGBTQ subject matter. It’s almost as if conservative politicians and activists believe they can legislate us out of existence. In the process , the rollback has emboldened people to be more vocal in their homophobic and transphobic rhetoric. Queer and trans kids deserve better than that. And while studies have shown that television has been much more inclusive of LGBTQ characters and storylines in recent years, according to GLAAD’s latest “Where We Are on TV” report, overall LGBTQ representation was slightly down during the 2021-2022 television season. The study also noted that more than 20% of LGBTQ characters counted in the study would not be returning next year because their series had concluded or were canceled. This decline is not surprising. The current media climate, in which companies are scrambling to make their streaming services profitable, has resulted in more shows getting canceled, and some being removed from their platforms altogether. Also not surprising: Many of the shows affected are those trying to tell diverse, inclusive stories. So while other LGBTQ-inclusive animated shows still exist, from Apple TV+’s “Pinecone and Pony” to Disney’s “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” nothing seems poised to fill the void “The Owl House” leaves behind. But we need shows like “The Owl House” now more than ever. Television alone cannot make the world a better place, especially for the young people directly affected by the right-wing crusade against the queer and trans community. But these young audiences are the ones that most need to see that their stories matter. And they should be able to see themselves as the heroes in these stories without having to compromise who they are. “The Owl House” helped its audience feel seen and told them that “nobody should be punished for who they are.” It’s time the rest of the world listens. View the full article

Published by Raw Story A Florida Republican on Wednesday doubled down on a controversial anti-drag bill. State Rep. Randy Fine, a proponent of SB 1438, the so-called “Protection of Children Act” that would ban anyone under 18 years of age from attending a drag show, argued during a debate on the House floor that “if it means erasing a community, because you have to target children, then damn right we outta do it.” Fine didn’t identify the community he supports “erasing,” but SB 1438 targets Florida’s LGBTQ community, The New Republic reports. The bill would also prevent anyone under 18 from attending The Rocky Horro… Read More View the full article

Published by Fort Worth Star-Telegram If you feel like drag queens are ubiquitous these days, you aren’t wrong. Whether it’s public libraries, advertisements or award shows, it seems like the gender-bending performers, once relegated to mature adult spaces, are suddenly impossible to avoid. They’re practically everywhere — except perhaps the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon. Late last month, university President Walter Wendler, canceled a student-run drag show. It was intended to be a charity event, raising funds for the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBTQ community… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) Berlin is one of Europe’s most popular destinations for a city break, with approximately 10.4 million visitors in 2022. But many tourists just stick to the well-known central attractions. Now, local authorities want visitors to explore further afield, venturing out into the lesser-known areas of the city. The council has launched an initiative called ‘Off to B!’ that refers to traffic zone B, an area outside of the inner S-Bahn railway ring. Discover Berlin’s lesser-known B zoneBerlin’s B zone is made up of nine districts each offering tourists a chance to explore a different side of the city…. Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet Anti-transgender rhetoric is on the rise within the Republican Party, from conservative commentator Michael Knowles’ suggesting transgender people should be “eradicated,” to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) anti-trans Twitter rant following the recent Nashville school mass shooting. The latest example of brazen anti-trans language comes from former President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., on an episode of the “Full Send” podcast. Former GOP prosecutor Ron Filipkowski shared a clip of the MAGA heir’s rant Sunday, writing, “Junior claims he has trans friends and is pretty liberal on t… Read More View the full article