Former US President Donald Trump has used his social media platform Truth Social to attack Florida governor Ron DeSantis, his biggest rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Trump posted stories from The New York Times and Newsweek to undermine DeSantis after two of the latter's endorsements lost in key races in Kentucky and Jacksonville on Tuesday evening. Trump said that "Ron's magic is GONE!" Trump also took "credit" for the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade, claiming that without his three nominees to the court, abortion bans would not be possible, and questioned DeSantis's six-week ban on abortions, claiming it was too harsh and was damaging his image among women voters.
Key attorney Timothy Paraltore, who was in charge of the legal team representing Trump in the investigation by Jack Smith, the special counsel of the Justice Department, into classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate, announced that he would be leaving the team. The investigation shows signs of nearing its conclusion. A Republican poll suggests that President Joe Biden would, if Donald Trump faces further criminal charges from the federal and state criminal investigations into his conduct, be vaulted to a massive lead over Trump.
Texas is set to pass a law banning gender-transitioning medical care for children, including those who have already begun the process. The new law will block anyone under the age of 18 from accessing hormone and puberty-blocking treatments as well as surgeries. The legislation is poised to make Texas the largest state to ban gender-transitioning medical care for children. The new law is now awaiting approval from Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who previously ordered child welfare officials to investigate such treatments as abuse. If Abbott passes the law, doctors in Texas will be prohibited from prescribing drugs that induce temporary or permanent infertility, as well as performing mastectomies or surgeries that will sterilise children or remove otherwise healthy body parts. Six healthcare associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in 2021 that they are strongly opposed to any legislation or regulation that would interfere with the provision of evidence-based patient care for any patient.
Republican-controlled states across the US have introduced more than 500 bills affecting LGBTQ+ people, of which 48 have passed, in the first five months of this year alone. The majority target transgender people, with the bills touching every aspect of the community’s public life. Many of the measures aim to prevent transgender girls from participating in female sports, require trans people to use the bathroom that matches their gender assigned at birth, or restrict trans people from changing their gender on their identity documents. LGBTQ+ rights activists are pushing back, with protests in Texas leading state lawmakers to send back a bill seeking to ban gender-affirming care. Meanwhile, many Republicans in the five states to have passed bills arguing that it is a mistake to let gender-affirming care occur. They distrust the medical consensus endorsing gender-affirming care, branding it dangerous and experimental.
Writers guild across Hollywood are on strike to improve their work security and compensation. Despite improvements in diversity in writers' rooms in Hollywood, writers of color, women of color, disabled writers and LGBTQ+ writers still lag in opportunities. Hollywood has seen an increase in the share of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in screen employment from 5.2% to 22.6%, while they account for 42.2% of the U.S. population. While the Guild's demands to studios do not specifically address the issue of diversity, WGA West board member Angelina Burnett told Reuters the negotiations the board put forward are intended to protect the economic stability of the industry for the new generation of WGA writers. White men continue to make up most of the high-level TV jobs, including 58% of showrunners and 64% of executive producers in 2020. Demands for more compensation and larger writers' rooms may be newer concerns for the "upper echelon of writers," but this has been an unresolved struggle for underrepresented writers for years.
Reported hate crimes in Toronto decreased slightly in 2022 compared to the year before, but are still much higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to data released by the police. In 2021, 257 hate crimes were recorded, compared to 242 in 2022 - a six per cent decline. However, the 2022 figure is 74 per cent higher than in 2019, with members of the Jewish and Black communities most often targeted for hate-motivated mischief to property and those in the LGBTQ community most frequently victims of hate-motivated assaults.
Policy 713 and kids: Fact checking 4 statements made by the premier
CBC
23-05-18 14:55
The Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, Blaine Higgs, has questioned an education policy designed to protect LGBTQ children which prevents teachers from informing parents if their child changes their name or pronouns. Policy 713 was created in 2020 and aims to reduce discrimination against LGBTQ children in schools. Higgs has stated that the review is being conducted to restore parents’ rights by removing the “informal name or pronoun” provision. The policy requires teachers to be sensitive to their students’ needs and to support them when they attempt to use their preferred names and pronouns. The Premier’s comments have been criticized by some for placing children’s safety at risk. Statistics Canada reports that suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 in the country, with LGBTQ youth being three times more likely to attempt suicide than their non-LGBTQ peers.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said that far-right members of Congress positioning themselves against corporations that promote diversity or progressive ideas like Coca-Cola, Disney, and Bud Light has united most Americans who are on the other side of the fence. Speaking to Wired, Buttigieg expressed hope about common ground in America, in part thanks to the GOP. Over the last few years, notable right-wing members of Congress have blasted several companies for promoting inclusivity, with some campaigns calling for boycotts against the likes of Anheuser-Busch.
PC minister says not enough LGBTQ consultation in policy review
CBC
23-05-18 19:25
Arlene Dunn, a senior cabinet minister in the New Brunswick government, has stated that there has not been enough LGBTQ community consultation on a policy review. Policy 713 is being reviewed, and the sets out minimum requirements for schools to create a safe, inclusive space for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities. One element of the policy, which allows students under 16 to adopt new names or pronouns in the classroom without informing their parents, has been criticised by the Premier, Blaine Higgs.
Book banning has returned to America, according to Reuters, which said battles over what children should read have reached the Legislative floor in Texas. In the current school year, nearly 40 bills have been put forward to control what get placed on library shelves, leading to some 438 books being banned in the state – more than anywhere else in America. Texas librarians have been vilified, accused of paedophilia and even threatened with violence, according to reports. PEN America, a nonprofit centred around freedom of expression, said in Texas there is a “larger, coordinated movement to ban books, ideas, and knowledge for students in schools.” The problem is spreading to the UK where a third of librarians have been asked to censor or remove books by members of the public, Cilip research showed.
Parents in the US have sued the state in some cases, while many of Texas’ lawmakers have made book bans a part of their campaign strategies, Reuters wrote. It quoted Tiffany Justice, co-founder of campaign group Moms For Liberty, which is organising petition drives and meetings with school officials across districts to censor reading lists, as saying: “Many books have been found to contain pornography and have nothing to do with education curriculum.”
Nicola Sturgeon has won an award for promoting LGBT+ rights in the same week that former Scottish butcher Andrew Miller admitted to charges of kidnapping, holding captive and sexually assaulting a girl while dressed as a woman. Miller was a supporter of Sturgeon’s campaign to allow anyone over the age of 16 to change their gender. Critics of the campaign, including JK Rowling, have expressed fears that less scrupulous people would use the legislation to exploit vulnerable women.
Dodgers slammed for disinviting prominent LGBTQ advocacy group from its Pride night
CBC
23-05-18 18:49
The Los Angeles Dodgers received backlash from LGBTQ+ groups and supporters after withdrawing an invitation to the LA chapter of drag queen charity the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to its Pride Night community hero award. The team withdrew the award because some Catholic groups and Republicans objected to the group's unconvential activities. LGBTQ+ organisations criticised the team, stating the decision was not inclusive. The move followed a season of similar controversy in the NHL, with teams cancelling plans to allow players to wear rainbow Pride jerseys during warm-ups.
The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team has disinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a satirical non-profit LGBTQ+ community group, from the team’s annual Pride Night, after strong opposition from conservative Catholic groups and politicians. The team was to have given the group a Community Hero Award at the 10th annual event, scheduled for 16 June. Opposition to the group’s participation centred on the clothing they wear which is said to mock the Catholic faith and to objectify members who are nuns. The Sisters’ non-profit mission statement seeks to promote “human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment,” as well as “service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges” and they utilise “humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.” The global group, which began through a whimsical protest in San Francisco in 1979, attracts loosely organised chapters situated around the world.
The murder of a man in Australia in 1980 is being examined as part of a state inquiry into hate crimes against the LGBTQI+ community. Richard Slater died at the age of 69 in Newcastle, three days after being assaulted in a public toilet at Birdwood Park in an incident believed to have been a gay-related hate crime. Slater’s family had no information suggesting that he was gay, the inquiry was told, but he was known to suffer from prostate problems that required him to urinate frequently. It was suggested that Slater may have been attacked by a man, Jeffrey Miller, who had been responsible for a number of robberies of people at gay beats. Miller died in 1986 and had previously been charged with Slater’s murder, although no case was made against him. Millar’s alleged practice of profiling targets on the basis of sexual orientation means that the beating and death of Slater would qualify as a hate crime according to NSW’s laws.
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation publicly rescinded an internal memo on “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology” the day after a whistleblower had published it. The memo suggested that the FBI should monitor these Catholics through “the development of sources with access” and listed “hate groups” published by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) as a place to start this work. The FBI’s decision to cite the SPLC, which has essentially suggested that the entire Roman Catholic Church should be considered a “hate group,” should trigger alarm bells for anyone who cares about Americans' First Amendment freedoms.
The FBI has published an internal memo stating concerns of a possible link between white supremacists and “radical-traditional Catholic ideology”. The memo originally cited the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a supporting source for the concerns. CatholicVote President Brian Burch suggested it was a result of “the new Inquisition” of “anti-Catholic bigotry”, but concerns have also been raised for other Christian sects such as conservative Judaism and Islam. A former employee of the SPLC has claimed that their agenda of accusations of “hate” is a “cynical fundraising scam”.
Criticism by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-leaning litigation nonprofit that has previously branded mainstream conservative and Christian organizations as “hate groups”, has been aimed at the third annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. for including “the presence and deep influence of virulently anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups and other far-right extremists.” Summit co-chair Katrina Lantos Swett argued, however, that the event brought together a range of people to address “the fundamental right to freedom of religion, conscience, and belief”, which she argued should protect Americans of every creed, including the “white, straight, cisgender, conservative Christians” whom the SPLC distrusts.
RG Cravens, a senior research analyst for the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, criticized former governor Sam Brownback’s endorsement of “the legal privilege of white, straight, cisgender, conservative Christians to discriminate against those who do not share their beliefs” which referred to churches that seek to implement the Bible’s teaching that marriage is between only a man and a woman. Furthermore, Cravens attacked Brownback for signing a bill “allowing religious groups at state universities to exclude LGBTQ+ people while retaining state funding.” In a commentary by The Epoch Times, an article is cited to suggest that the SPLC targets Christians who oppose the same-sex marriage, but the SPLC claims it does not consider “opposition to same-sex marriage or the belief that being LGBTQ+ is a sin as the sole basis for the hate group label.”
In 2019, amid a racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal, a former SPLC employee called SPLC’s “hate” labeling a “highly profitable scam” aimed at “bilking northern liberals” and accused the nonprofit of continuing to malign Christian groups as “anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups” even if these groups deny the allegations made against them. The hate accusation allegedly carries real-world consequences, given a terrorist targeted the right-wing Christian group, the Family Research Council (FRC), in 2012, allegedly inspired by the SPLC’s hate map, and former spokesman Mark Potok revealed that “our aim in life is to destroy these groups, completely destroy them.”
Student protesters at Stanford Law School prevented US Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan from delivering a guest lecture. Duncan, who is on the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, had been invited by student organisation the Federalist Society to talk about the impact of his court’s decisions on rulings by the Supreme Court. Liberal students denounced Duncan for allegedly threatening rights of some groups, including LGBTQ+ individuals and black voters. Around 100 protesters jeered the Federalist Society students when they entered the lecture room. A group of between 50 and 70 protesters continued to shout personal insults and use vulgar language to disrupt the speech. Although the law school has guidelines prohibiting disruption, none of the five school administrators present attempted to enforce them. Duncan stated later that he believed the event had been a “setup”.
Former professional cyclist Hannah Arensman has spoken out against the participation of biological males in female professional cycling. Despite winning national medals and harboring hopes of competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics, Arensman retired from the sport last December following a race in which she finished fourth behind Austin Killips, a transgender athlete still benefiting from male puberty. Killips became global news this month by becoming the first transgender cyclist to win a sanctioned stage race. Arensman has accused the relevant governing authorities of failing to take appropriate action and failing to protect the integrity of women’s professional cycling competitions. Only retired athletes have spoken out in similar terms before now, with active athletes almost universally reluctant to express their misgivings for fear of being labelled transphobic. The case echoes similar controversies in other areas of women’s sports, notably tennis and weightlifting.
Transgender people in El Salvador continue to face discrimination and violence due to their gender identity, exacerbated by weak legal protection, a lack of social acceptance and the influence of Catholicism and evangelicalism. El Salvador’s supreme court ruled in 2022 that people should be able to alter the gender markers on their official documentation, but the government failed to meet a 2021 deadline to enact reform to facilitate that process. LGBTQ rights are said to be under threat in the country following a swing to the right in elections, with activists reporting increased homophobia and transphobia. Transgender citizens face practical challenges in their daily life due to misgendering or a lack of official documents that match their gender identity. Hospitals, banks and insurers are among those who refuse to respect the gender identities of transgender citizens. Violence against trans women in particular has increased in El Salvador in recent years, with police officers among those said to be operating with impunity.
Sheik Jassim has made a fourth bid to purchase Manchester United, with reports suggesting chemicals billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is also in the running. Nasser Mohamed, an LGBTQ+ activist and advocate across the Middle East has suggested that the Qatar bid is part of a wider “pattern” by funds linked to the state. Mohamed has criticised Qatar for its human rights stance and says people must be “worried” about surrendering power to the country while it remains authoritarian. It has been suggested by PA that most United fans prefer the Qatar bid over that of Ratcliffe.
