News
Russian official again defends anti-gay law
Crackdown threatens to overshadow Sochi games
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko on Aug. 18 once again defended his countryās law that bans gay propaganda to minors.
āWe want to protect our children whose psyches have not formed from the propaganda of drug use, drunkenness and non-traditional sexual relations,ā he said during a press conference in Moscow as the Associated Press reported.
Mutko also said the law that President Vladimir Putin signed in June will not affect athletes and others who attend the 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi, Russia, in February.
āI can say once again that the freedoms of Russians and foreign athletes and guests who come to Sochi will be absolutely protected,ā Mutko said.
Growing outrage over the gay propaganda law and Russiaās LGBT rights record continues to threaten to overshadow the Sochi games.
Russian chess champion Gary Kasparov and playwright Harvey Fierstein are among those who have called for a boycott of the Olympics. Author Dan Savage, LGBT rights advocate Cleve Jones and others have called for a boycott of Russian vodka.
Gay Olympic diver Greg Louganis, who was unable to compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because then-President Jimmy Carter boycotted them over the Soviet Unionās invasion of Afghanistan the year before, is among those who feel the U.S. should compete in Sochi. President Obama, retired tennis champion Martina Navratilova and a number of LGBT advocacy groups that include Athlete Ally also oppose an Olympic boycott.
Athletes take sides on anti-gay law
American runner Nick Symmonds criticized Russiaās gay propaganda ban after he competed at the World Athletic Championships in Moscow last week. High jumper Emma Green Tregaro and sprinter Mao Hjelmer, who are from Sweden, painted their fingernails in rainbow colors as they competed in the same event.
The AP reported Green Tregaro wore red fingernail polish as she competed in a high jump competition on Aug. 17 because Swedish athletic officials reportedly asked her to change their color.
Yelena Isinbayeva, a Russian Olympic pole vault champion, criticized Green Tregaro and Hjelmer during an Aug. 15 press conference after she won her third world title at the World Athletic Championships. Isinbayeva also defended the gay propaganda law.
āWe have our law that everyone has to respect,ā she said.
Kseniya Ryzhova told Russian reporters during a Moscow press conference earlier this week that she felt insulted over reports that suggested she and Tatyana Firoya challenged the gay propaganda law when they kissed on the medal podium at the World Athletic Championships on Aug. 18 after they won the womenās 4 x 400 meter rally.
āThere was no hidden political motive,ā Ryzhova said, as Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the Miss Universe Organization on Aug. 20 expressed concern over the gay propaganda law and the ongoing anti-LGBT crackdown in Russia.
āThe law, as well as the violence experienced by the LGBT community in Russia, are diametrically opposed to the core values of our company,ā it said in a statement that GLAAD released. āOur organization has always embodied a spirit of inclusion and is a celebration of people from all countries and walks of life.ā
The statement comes less than a week after Andy Cohen told E! News he turned down a request to co-host the 2013 Miss Universe pageant that will take place in Moscow in November, in part, because āhe didnāt feel right as a gay man stepping foot into Russia.ā Francisco Pascuzzi, a gay man from Somerville, N.J., urged the Miss Universe Organization that Donald Trump co-owns with NBC Universal in a Change.org petition to relocate this yearās pageant from the Russian capital over the countryās LGBT rights record.
Cohen could not be reached for comment.
Trumpās representatives last week did not return the Washington Bladeās request for an interview.
Congress
Sens. Butler, Smith introduce Pride in Mental Health Act to aid at-risk LGBTQ youth
Bill is backed by Democrats in both chambers
U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act on Thursday, legislation that would strengthen resources in mental health and crisis intervention for at-risk LGBTQ youth.
āAccessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,āĀ said Butler, who is the first Black LGBTQ senator. āBarriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.”
“I am introducing the Pride in Mental Health Act to help equip LGBTQ+ youth with the resources to get the affirming and often life-saving care they need,” she said.
āMental health care is health care,” said Smith. “And for some LGBTQ+ youth, receiving access to the mental health care they need can mean the difference between living in safety and dignity, and suffering alone through discrimination, bullying, and even violence.āĀ
The Minnesota senator added that data shows LGBTQ students are experiencing “an epidemic” of “anxiety, depression and other serious mental health conditions.”
For example, a 2023 study by The Trevor Project found that 54 percent of LGBTQ youth reported symptoms of depression, compared to 35 percent of their heterosexual counterparts.
Joining the senators as cosponsors are Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Bob Casey (Penn.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.). Baldwin was the first LGBTQ woman elected to the House in 1999 and the first LGBTQ woman elected to the Senate in 2013.
Leading the House version of the bill are LGBTQ Democratic U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Kan.), Eric Sorensen (Ill.), and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), along with 163 other House members.
Organizations that have backed the Pride in Mental Health Act include the Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Education Association (NEA), National Center for Transgender Equality, Seattle Indian Health Board, PFLAG National, The Trevor Project, American Psychological Association, Whitman-Walker Institute, InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Mental Health America, and Center for Law and Social Policy.
District of Columbia
D.C. mayorĀ honors 10th anniversary of Team Rayceen Productions
LGBTQ entertainment, advocacy organization praised for āvital workā
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser today issued an official proclamation declaring Monday, March 18, 2024, as Team Rayceen Day in honor of the local LGBTQ entertainment and advocacy organization Team Rayceen Productions named after its co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis.
āWhereas Rayceen, along with Team Rayceen Productions co-founder, Zar, have spent 10 years advocating for the Black LGBTQI+ community using various forms including in-person events, social media, and YouTube,ā the proclamation states.
The proclamation adds that through its YouTube Channel, Team Rayceen Productions created a platform for āBlack LGBTQIA+ individuals to discuss various topics including spotlighting nonprofit organizations and small businesses, voter registration and participation, the state of LGBTQIA+ rights and resources in D.C, gender equality and equity, and the amplification of opportunities to bring the community together.ā
It also praises Team Rayceen Productions for its partnership with the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs in helping to produce āexciting events like the District of Pride talent showcase held each June and the iconic 17th Street High Heel Race celebrated in October.ā
āWhereas I thank Team Rayceen Productions for its vital and necessary work and am #DCProud to wish you all the best as you continue to support Black LGBTQIA+ residents across all 8 Wards,ā the proclamation continues.
āNow, therefore, I, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., do hereby proclaim March 18, 2024, as TEAM RAYCEEN DAY in Washington, D.C. and do commit this observance to all Washingtonians,ā it concludes.
āWe thank Mayor Bowser for this special proclamation, which highlights where it all began, with the Black LGBTQIA+ community of Washington, D.C,ā Team Rayceen Productions says in a statement. āStarting with The Ask Rayceen Show, Reel Affirmation, and events with D.C. Public Library to Art All Night, Silver Pride by Whitman-Walker, and events with the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, we are #dcproud of what we have accomplished in the Nationās Capital,ā the statement says.
“For TEAM RAYCEEN DAY, we thank the diverse group of individuals who have made everything we have done possible by volunteering their time and talents over the past decade ā as online co-hosts, event staff, performers, DJs, photographers, and more,ā says the statement.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court declines to hear case over drag show at Texas university
Students argue First Amendment protects performance
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a First Amendment case over a public university president’s refusal to allow an LGBTQ student group to host a drag show on campus.
The group’s application was denied without the justices providing their reasoning or issuing dissenting opinions, as is custom for such requests for emergency review.
When plaintiffs sought to organize the drag performance to raise money for suicide prevention in March 2023, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler cancelled the event, citing the Bible and other religious texts.
The students sued, arguing the move constituted prior restraint and viewpoint-based discrimination, in violation of the First Amendment. Wendler had called drag shows āderisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny,” adding that “a harmless drag show” was “not possible.”
The notoriously conservative Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who former President Donald Trump appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ruled against the plaintiffs in September, writing that āit is not clearly established that all drag shows are inherently expressive.”
Kacsmaryk further argued that the High Court’s precedent-setting opinions protecting stage performances and establishing that “speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend” was inconsistent with constitutional interpretation based on ātext, history and tradition.”
Plaintiffs appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is by far the most conservative of the nation’s 12 appellate circuit courts. They sought emergency review by the Supreme Court because the 5th Circuit refused to fast-track their case, so arguments were scheduled to begin after the date of their drag show.