58-year-old Kevin Bickerstaff, who reportedly encouraged classmates to beat up a 12-year-old trans girl so she would leave the school, has been suspended from his job as a pilot for Frontier Airlines pending an investigation into his conduct. RUSTY ARTIFACTS OF ANOTHER AGE Good morning FIGHT readers. I write from the open road, the Great…
Todd Gloria Support For Trans Foster Kids Groundbreaking state bill approved ensuring hormone access for transgender youth in foster care. BY VICTOR MELAMED California lawmakers have passed a historic bill ensuring that trans youth in foster care can access proper medical care, reports Gay Star News. The bill, AB-2119, introduced by gay Assemblymember Todd Gloria, mandates…
We will shortly switch to a 5-4 antigay majority which will likely send us back to square two or three just as we were about to win the long war for LGBT civil rights. Where’s the bartender?” MAKE IT A DOUBLE I confess I did not expect Anthony Kennedy to resign out of the blue…
CA ATTORNEY GENERAL XAVIER BECERRA TRAVEL BAN California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced that as a result of “discriminatory legislation” that became Oklahoma law last month, the western state will prohibit travel to its midwestern counterpart. A 2017 California law requires that its attorney general keeps a list of states subject to a state travel…
Winston Godwin (L) and Greg DeRoche (R), a Bermudian-Canadian couple, challenged the Bermuda Supreme Court and won the right to marry on the island in May 2017, before the new legislation repealed same-sex marriage. Bermuda’s Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last month in the British island territory again—overturning a ban that was signed into law…
GOVERNOR LARRY HOGAN “CONVERSION THERAPY” BANNED Maryland has joined the list of states banning harmful “conversion therapy” meant to turn gay people straight. The programs greatly increase chances of suicide and are completely ineffective. Governor Larry Hogan signed the legislation last month, along with another bill that will expand housing and support services to youth…
JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY Surely Justice Kennedy won’t fail us now, will he? Or will our champion decide that he’s done enough to help same-sex couples and it’s time for the pendulum to swing back a bit towards the far right religious conservatives?” WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS Hello dear FIGHT readers. Doesn’t it seem as if…
Former West Hollywood city council member, Los Angeles County Assessor, Jeffrey Prang is running for re-election. BY MARK ARIEL Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, former West Hollywood council member, currently running for re-election, is no stranger to politics. A gay man, originally from Warren, Michigan, Prang says that “public service has appealed to me…
(Photo: Danny Cruz) New laws, on local, state and federal levels, are driving more sex workers into the streets, putting their lives at risk. BY LARRY BUHL On April 17, a new California bill meant to expand the definition of “pandering,” which means solicitation and recruitment for prostitution, was tabled in the Senate Public Safety…
Zelim Bakaev Never Again (Again) Over a year later—and still no justice for gay and bisexual men murdered in Chechnya. BY MATT BEARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALLOUT.ORG One year ago last month, news broke of a wave of terrifying, state-sponsored violence in Chechnya against men perceived to be gay or bisexual. In scenes that would not…
The late Queen’s mother … reportedly [had] a penchant for drink and a lot of gay men on her personal staff. “Will one of you young queens get this old queen a martini?” she is rumored to have shouted down the hall one evening.” Register This! I was following a story out of Turin, Italy,…
Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur Pushing Forward Legislators and advocates meet at Equality California’s Fair Share for Equality event. BY VICTOR MELAMED Equality California held its fourth annual Fair Share for Equality event last month at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. The program, with close to 400 attendees, included TED-style presentations from LGBTQ community…
“You can’t win elected office and then expect your public cyber sex-capades to remain private… if you don’t like it, don’t show your stuff all over the Internet for all to see. Go old school. Seduce someone face to face like the rest of us had to.” The Brains Of A Dandelion I see that…
Consumer Fraud Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) has authored a bill that would brand so-called gay conversion therapy as fraud under the state’s consumer protection laws. A bill has been introduced in California which would see practitioners of debunked gay “cure” therapies prosecuted for fraud, reports Pink News. Performing gay cure therapy on minors is already is…
New Trans Troop Ban Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California: “No evidence a trans sniper is less accurate or a trans pilot is less effective.” BY ORLY LYONNE President Trump released an order last month banning most transgender troops from serving in the military except under “limited circumstances,” following up on his calls last year to ban transgender individuals from…
A report on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer hate violence homicides. BY VICTOR MELAMED Fifty-two LGBTQ people were killed last year as a result of hate violence, according to a new report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP). The number represents a trend in rising violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender…
Matt Palazzolo Remembering Matt Family and friends mourn the death of local gay activist Matt Palazzolo. BY ORLY LYONNE Matt Palazzolo, an actor and writer who was a longtime member of West Hollywood’s Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board (LGAB), a member of the Christopher Street West board and very well known in the city’s gay community,…
