National
LGBT groups incorrectly listed as Stoli event beneficiaries
HRC among organizations that denied Gaycities.com claims
Human Rights Campaign headquarters in Northwest D.C. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Three LGBT advocacy groups have disputed claims they will accept money from Stoli raised at events across the country.
Oscar Raymundo of Gaycities.com, which also owns the LGBT website Queerty, said in a press release on Tuesday the gay website had “convinced” Stoli’s parent company, SPI Group, to donate $5 to local chapters of Equality California, Equality Texas and the Human Rights Campaign for each person who RSVPs and attends the Most Original Stoli Guy Live events in D.C., San Francisco, San Diego and Dallas in the coming days. Cobalt in Dupont Circle is scheduled to host a Most Original Stoli Guy Live event on August 22.
HRC spokesperson Michael Cole-Schwartz denied his organization was accepting any money from Stoli or these events.
“The Human Rights Campaign is not participating in the Most Original Stoli Guy events and is not accepting any donations related to these events or otherwise from Stoli,” Cole-Schwartz said. “The press release indicating our participation was flat out wrong and the event organizers have unfortunately not provided any information to substantiate their claim.”
The Dallas Voice reported that Equality Texas Executive Director Chuck Smith said his organization does not have any relationship with Stoli, and would not accept any donations from the vodka brand. Joe.My.God noted an Equality California spokesperson said the group did not respond to Raymundo who sent the press release that noted their participation in the San Francisco and San Diego events that are scheduled to take place later on Wednesday and on Friday.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of calls to boycott Stoli and other Russian vodka brands over Russia’s gay crackdown.
SPI Group CEO Val Mendeleev said in a July 25 statement the Russian government does not own Stoli. He acknowledged the vodka contains Russian ingredients, but a factory in neighboring Latvia distills it.
Mendeleev referenced the Most Original Stoli Guy partnership with Gaycities.com as among the pro-LGBT groups and initiatives it has supported. Others include Pride celebrations in South Africa and Austria.
A Stoli spokesperson did not respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment.
Raymundo told the Blade the press release that mentioned Equality California, Equality Texas and HRC as beneficiaries of the Most Original Stoli Guy events in San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas and D.C. was “inaccurate.” He did not immediately respond to a follow-up question about why he distributed it in the first place.
“Gaycities is still in the process of finalizing the beneficiaries to be part of the Stoli Guy campaign, which will be made public once they are officially confirmed,” Raymundo told the Blade. “We apologize for the miscommunication and any confusion it might have caused.”
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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