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Fast Five Fix: June 21

Outing & out gay celebs, OccuPride to stop actual Pride in SF, Dan Savage puts a dollar in the swear jar, and Britney – Britney – Britney!

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Rainbow bus club, gay news, Washington Blade

Queerty uncovered this bizarre group of straight guys who love to play gay for the day, rent busses and play dance music, and just pride out. Ummm... thanks? (h/t Queerty — click for more)

While Entertainment Weekly tackles gay celebrities coming out of the closet on their own terms, my boss, Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff contributed quotes to a much different New York Observer magazine story about pushing closeted celebs out of the closet. Now here’s the news:

  • An LGBT Occupy Wall Street offshoot, OccuPride, plans to disrupt the San Francisco Pride parade this weekend, maybe even stop it in its tracks, says LGBT newspaper Bay Area Reporter. Meanwhile, OccuPrider Scott Rossi tells JoeMyGod they aren’t against having a good time, but want to make people aware of the corporate takeover of Pride.
  • Towleroad tells us the Canadian porn star murderer who posted video of dismembering his ex on YouTube, before shipping body parts off to members of Parliament, has plead not guilty to his murder…
  • Troy Michigan mayor, Janice Daniels, whose foot seems ever so resolved to stay firmly in her mouth when it comes to talking about LGBT people, has done it again; and this time — with a pending recall election hovering over her head — she may have sealed her fate, according to Autostraddle.
  • Dan Savage said something VERY naughty about GOProud on Twitter after the gay conservative group endorsed Mitt Romney. GOProud leadership was quick to reply, as was friend of the Blade and DailyKos superstar, Scott Wooledge.
  • Alec Baldwin should just get off Twitter… read what homophobic junk he tweeted now at Queerty.

Finally, remember playing Britney’s album “Baby… One More Time,” over and over again and hearing the duet “I Will Still Love You?” The guy singing with Brit is named Don Philips, and on Sunday he auditioned for his old song-mate Britney Spears, Simon Cowell and everyone else on the X Factor, and came out of the closet in the tearful exchange with the “Toxic” songstress. Watch part of that audition here:

Apparently, however, his audition crashed an burned. Too bad he can’t now say to Britney “Oops, I did it again!” (h/t Towleroad)

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free

Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

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The U.S. Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022, to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Photo Credit: Fred Schilling, the U.S. Supreme Court)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.

The court’s decision rejected the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.

An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.

They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines — like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.

Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.

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