LOS ANGELES
LAPD SUED OVER BEHAVIOR AT TRANS RIGHTS PROTESTS
A group of transgender rights activists filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department last month for its handling of recent protests outside Wi Spa in Koreatown, reports CBSLA.
The lawsuit stems from two separate violent clashes over the spa’s policy regarding transgender customers.
Proud Boy-affiliated anti-trans groups gathered last month for the second time to protest the spa allowing transgender individuals to use the appropriate locker room for their gender identity. The group was met with a number of counter-protesters.
The suit alleges LAPD officers used batons to break a journalist’s arm, shot projectiles at fleeing protesters at close range and allowed anti-trans protesters to duck behind police lines for protection.
LOS ANGELES
ED BUCK CONVICTED ON ALL NINE COUNTS
After a six-hour deliberation last month, a jury found Ed Buck guilty of all nine felony counts against him, including two for distribution of controlled substances resulting in death. Two gay men died of drug overdoses in his apartment on Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood. Gemmel Moore, 26, died on July 27, 2017, and Timothy Dean, 55, died on January 7, 2019. Buck pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but he did not take the stand in his defense. The verdict was reached on the day of the four-year anniversary of Gemmel Moore’s death. Buck was additionally convicted in enticing Moore and another man to travel to Los Angeles to engage in prostitution; knowingly and intentionally distributing methamphetamine and using his WeHo apartment to distribute narcotics. The 66-year-old now faces life imprisonment. Convictions for supplying meth that results in death each carry a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
PALM SPRINGS
POLICE INVESTIGATING ATTACK OF FORMER GAY MEN’S CHORUS L.A. MEMBER
Palm Springs Police are still investigating the attack of Justin Wicker, a former member of the Gay Men’s Chorus Los Angeles who a witness says was a victim a hate crime assault rooted in homophobia on July 9th. Wicker was overheard making a joke that a Black man looked like Eddie Murphy and the man confronted him. A scuffle ensued and it is not clear if Wicker was pushed to the ground, or he fell on his own while trying to get away. He sustained head injuries that landed him in critical condition. He was in a coma for over a week. Police investigators say they currently do not have enough evidence to call it a hate crime. Anyone with information is asked to call 760-327-1441.
SAN DIEGO
MARCHERS CALL FOR PASSAGE OF EQUALITY ACT DURING LGBT PRIDE
Members and allies of the San Diego LGBTQ community marched from Balboa Park to Hillcrest on Pride weekend last month to continue the fight for justice and liberation. A crowd of over10,000 people hit the streets calling for the passage of the Equality Act. They carried signs calling for action and waved LGBTQ Pride flags in what would’ve been a parade during Pride. At the end of the march in the LGBT neighborhood of Hillcrest, the crowd called for elected officials, faith leaders and organizations pass the Equality Act, which would provide anti- discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across areas such as employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs and jury service.
STUDIO CITY
OIL CAN HARRY’S IS UP FOR HISTORIC-CULTURAL MONUMENT DESIGNATION
The Los Angeles Conservancy is supporting a Los Angeles Councilmember’s motion to initiate a Historic-Cultural Monument designation for the Oil Can Harry’s gay bar. The LGBTQ country western line-dancing bar located in Studio City announced it was closed for good at the beginning of this year after operating for 52 years.
”As a longtime Valley dance club that allowed people to be themselves, it also protected its patrons during police raids and provided crucial community support and assistance during the AIDS epidemic,” reads a statement by the LA Conservancy. Councilmember Paul Krekorian.
