News
Milo Yiannopoulos barred from entering Australia
The former Breitbart editor was banned on ‘character grounds’
Controversial political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has been barred from entering Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Morrison government rejected Yiannopoulos’s visa application “on character grounds.” He has one month to repeal the decision to the Department of Home Affairs.
Australian officials sent Yiannopoulos a notice earlier this month that they have the authority to block someone from entry who could āincite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community.ā
Australia has barred other figures over controversy including whistleblower Chelsea Manning and leader of the far-right group Proud Boys, Gavin McInnes.
Yiannopoulos has faced plenty of hardship since he resigned as Breitbart editor in 2017 over controversial comments he made about boys having sex with adult men. He is now $4 million in debt which he tried to pay off through a Patreon page but he was banned from the site after one day.
Colombia
Claudia LĆ³pez mum on whether she will run for president of Colombia
LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored former BogotĆ” mayor in D.C.
Former BogotĆ” Mayor Claudia LĆ³pez on Saturday did not specifically discuss the growing speculation over whether she will run for president of Colombia in 2026 when she spoke at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. and with the Washington Blade.
āIn a week I am going to return to Colombia and Iām coming back with a very, very punctual task,ā she said in a speech she gave after the Victory Institute inducted her into its LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame at the JW Marriott. āDemocracy in the world in general needs emotional reconnection.ā
LĆ³pez, 54, was a student protest movement leader, journalist, and political scientist before she entered politics.
She returned to Colombia in 2013 after she earned her PhD in political science at Columbia University.
LĆ³pez in her speech said Juan Francisco āKikoā Gomez, a former governor of La GuajĆra Department in northern Colombia, threatened to assassinate her because she wrote about his ties to criminal gangs. A BogotĆ” judge in 2017 convicted GĆ³mez of ordering members of a paramilitary group to kill former Barrancas Mayor Yandra Brito, her husband, and bodyguard and sentenced him to 55 years in prison.
LĆ³pez in 2014 returned to Colombia, and ran for the countryās Senate as a member of the center-left Green Alliance party after she recovered from breast cancer. LĆ³pez won after a 10-week campaign that cost $80,000.
āI was the only woman, the only LGBTQ member of my caucus,ā she said in her speech. āOf course I had the honor, but also the responsibility to represent them particularly well, [and] of course all the citizens who trust me and all the citizens of Colombia.”
“Once you are elected, you are elected to represent equally and faithfully all of the people, not only your own people,ā added LĆ³pez.
LĆ³pez in 2018 was her partyās candidate to succeed then-President Juan Manuel Santos when he left office. LĆ³pez in 2019 became the first woman and first lesbian elected mayor of BogotĆ”, the Colombian capital and the countryās largest city.
āThis of course speaks incredibly well of my city,ā she said in her speech.
LĆ³pez took office on Jan. 1, 2020, less than a month after she married her wife, Colombian Sen. AngĆ©lica Lozano. (LĆ³pez was not out when she was elected to the Senate.) Lozano was with LĆ³pez at the Victory Institute conference.
LĆ³pezās term ended on Dec. 31, 2023. She will return to Colombia once her Advanced Leadership Fellowship at Harvard University ends this month.
āI ended my mayorship,ā LĆ³pez told the Blade. āIt has been, of course, the honor of my life to be the first female mayor of my city. It was an absolutely beautiful job, but very challenging.ā
āI needed a year of rest, of relaxation, and I was fortunate to receive a Harvard scholarship this year,ā she added.
LĆ³pez during the interview called for an end to polarization and reiterated her support for democracy.
āWe need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each otherās skin,ā she said.
LĆ³pez said parties, candidates, and their political coalitions in Colombia and around the world need to ālisten, reconnect, and organize with peopleā at the grassroots. LĆ³pez also told the Blade there is a āglobal crisis of democracy.ā
āEach country has its own contexts and challenges, but it seems to me that there is a common element there,ā she said.
āSo, I return to Colombia rested, grateful after a year of reflection, with proposals in mind, but determined to dedicate time to what I consider the most important work for democracy at this time, which is to reconnect from the grassroots,” added LĆ³pez.
‘I know what love and education can do for any person’
LĆ³pez took office less than three months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
āWe were full of hope, ready to go to offer a new social and environmental contract for BogotĆ” society for the 21st century,ā she said. āBut a couple of (months) after being sworn into office, the pandemic of COVID-19 came.ā
Unemployment and poverty rates soared in BogotĆ” during the pandemic, and the cityās residents had less access to health care and other basic services.
LĆ³pez noted her administration in response to the pandemic offered scholarships to young people, supported businesses, and increased funding of the cityās social services. LĆ³pez also said her administration implemented Latin Americaās first city-based care system for female care givers, and build three more LGBTQ community centers in poor and working-class neighborhoods.
āI know what love and education can do for any person,ā she said.
The U.N. Refugee Agency says upwards of three million Venezuelans are now in Colombia.
Then-Colombian President IvĆ”n Duque in February 2021 announced Venezuelan migrants who register with the countryās government will be legally recognized.
Former BogotĆ” Mayor Gustavo Petro, a former senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s, succeeded Duque as president on Aug. 7, 2022. Colombia and Venezuela restored diplomatic ties less than a month later.
Venezuelaās National Electoral Council on July 28 declared President NicolĆ”s Maduro the winner of the countryās disputed presidential election. Tamara AdriĆ”n, the countryās first transgender congresswoman who ran in the presidential primary earlier this year, are among those who denounced voting irregularities.
WPLG, a South Florida television station, on March 16, 2021, reported LĆ³pez sparked controversy after she told reporters there have been āsome very violent acts from Venezuelans.ā
āFirst they murder, and then they steal,ā she said. āWe need guarantees for Colombians.ā
LĆ³pez made the comments after a Venezuelan migrant murdered a Colombian police officer in BogotĆ”.
āThe problem is not migration from Venezuela,ā LĆ³pez told the Blade in response to a question about Venezuela. āThe problem is authoritarianism in Venezuela and you have to keep the focus on it.ā
āThe problem is what it is: It is not the migrants, it is in Maduro, it is in the dictatorship, it is in authoritarianism.ā
More than 200,000 people died in the war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that began in 1962.
Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Commander Rodrigo āTimochenkoā LondoƱo on Sept 26, 2016, signed an LGBTQ-inclusive peace agreement. Colombian voters a few days later narrowly rejected it a referendum that took place against the backdrop of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from religious and conservative groups.
Santos and LondoƱo less than two months later signed a second peace agreement, which also contains LGBTQ-specific references.
LĆ³pez described herself as āa person totally committed to the peace process.ā She added, however, she has āa bit of a bad taste in my mouth now that I look back.ā
āThe peace process with the FARC, which was to demobilize the FARC, period, certainly tried to have and had a gender focus, of course a diversity focus, a focus on human rights for all victims, and certainly (the) many LGBT victims who had been victims of FARC recruitment, abuse, stigmatization, etc.,ā LĆ³pez told the Blade. āSo, in some sense, or in many senses, having that gender and diversity perspective was a way of recognizing the victims of our community.”
She noted opponents lied about the LGBTQ-specific provisions “to deceive and delegitimize the peace agreement.”
āIt is not about making anything invisible, or even downplaying anything, but rather about being much more strategic in understanding that we do not want our flags and causes to be exposed in a way that ends up being a boomerang for our own community,ā LĆ³pez added. āSo, I say that is why it is a disappointment, because I think it is a lesson. At least for me, it made me think and it makes me think, and I have said it openly since then, that we have to be much more careful and much more, above all, strategic, in how we raise our flags so that they really do not only have symbolic, but real advances and so that in no case do they become a boomerang against ourselves.ā
‘I know how you feel’
LĆ³pez during the interview praised the recent elections of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Uruguayan Vice President Beatriz ArgimĆ³n, and other women in Latin America. She also expressed sympathy with LGBTQ Americans who are concerned about the incoming Trump-Vance administration.
āI know how you feel,ā said LĆ³pez in her speech. āIāve been there when we lost the peace referendum in 2016. Iāve been there when three candidates who represented independent, new alternatives in Colombia, and policies were killed by mafia groups in 1990. Iāve been there when a mafia cartel was able to fund and elect a president for all of us. Iāve been there when paramilitary groups were able to support and elect another president in Colombia.ā
āI know how obscure and difficult and challenging and painful democratic times are, but we cannot (back) democracy only when we win,ā she added. āItās precisely when things are challenging, when we suffer defeats that are painful, that we need to attach to our democratic and humanistic values and principles.ā
Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beachās iconic Purple Parrot is sold
Popular restaurant/bar purchased by local entrepreneurs
After 25 years of success, owners Hugh Fuller and Troy Roberts recently sold Rehoboth Beachās Purple Parrot restaurant and bar.
During those 25 years, they built it into an iconic establishment in Rehoboth Beach, Del., popular with locals and tourists alike.
āI think you know that this has basically been my entire adult life,ā Fuller said. āSelling wasn’t something I was even contemplating until my health took a turn after contracting COVID, which took a toll on my everyday health. I went from working almost every day to barely going in.ā
Fuller added that when local entrepreneurs Tyler Townsend and his partner Drew Mitchell reached out, he knew it was time to sell.
āWe knew we made the right decision going with some young blood that knew the staff, the restaurant, and us,ā Fuller said. āWe know that our baby is in good hands and will breathe for another 25+ years with them at the helm. I plan to take some time and bring my mom back to her hometown in Germany to visit her family, which she hasn’t seen in over 30 years.ā
Roberts added, āIt is bittersweet selling a business you created, nurtured, and ran for 25 years. It is much easier knowing who is going to love it next. More importantly, we really wanted our staff to be OK and again picking the right guys offering that security to them was a major plus. Iāve learned so much being in the restaurant business for 30+ years. You meet so many great people, so many loyal customers, amazing locals, and even better staff. It truly does become a family situation. I will always be grateful to every single one of them past and present. I cannot wait to see what the next chapter of the Purple Parrot Grill has in-store.ā
The new owners, Townsend and Mitchell, are already a big part of the Rehoboth scene. Townsend is a successful restaurateur, part of the Second Block Hospitality Group, which owns The Pines, Drift, and Bodhi Kitchen. Townsend is also one of the owners of Aqua Bar and Grill. Townsend and the other three partners in Second Block Hospitality, were named restaurateurs of the year by the Delaware Restaurant Association earlier this year. Mitchell has a company that does corporate branding, but is no newcomer to hospitality. He is the owner of the Fathom Gallery on 14th Street in D.C., a popular event space.
Townsend told the Blade he and Mitchell are not planning any big changes for the Parrot. The staff will remain the same and the food and drinks will continue as they are now. They will continue to be open on Thanksgiving and Christmas, as a home for those looking to have a great place to spend the holidays with old, and new friends. While the Parrot is independent of Townsendās other businesses, he believes there can be some synergy among them, and if the time and event are right, there will be collaboration.
Reaction to the news from locals has been overwhelmingly positive.
Christopher Chandler, who has worked as a bartender and manager at the Parrot for years, is well respected in the community and has been voted best bartender in Rehoboth Beach a number of times by Blade readers. Chandler said, āHugh and Troy were, and are, like family to me. They treated me and the staff of the Parrot as part of theirs. Iām sad they are gone but if anyone is capable of continuing their legacy it is Tyler and Drew.
āIn the short time since their purchase of the Purple Parrot they have continued on that tradition. Iām excited about continuing into the future what the Parrot has been to the community, and to the employees, just with new owners.ā
Bob Suppies, who is a partner with Townsend in Second Block Hospitality said, āI couldnāt be more excited for Tyler and Drew having purchased The Purple Parrot. When Tyler, Kevin McDuffie and I bought Aqua Bar & Grill from the famed Bill Shields, it was important for us to honor the brand and legacy of a great Rehoboth Beach institution. I know Tyler and Drew will do an outstanding job protecting what Hugh and Troy have built and given to our community.ā
Steve Fallon, owner of local retail store Gidgetās Gadgets, said, āThe Purple Parrot is a monumental institution produced by the hard work of Hugh, Troy, Cathy, and their loyal staff. We will be sad not to yell “Hey Hugh!” across the street. But I also know that Tyler and Drew will carry on the history of the Parrot with a fresh approach and always keep the customers happy. I wouldn’t fear that they would do as others have done and try changing a functioning landscape into a horror show.ā
Maryland
Hate crime charges dropped against most Salisbury students in off-campus attack
Suspects allegedly used Grindr to target victim
BY MIKE HELLGRIN, CHRISTIAN OLANIRAN, AND ELLIE WOLFE | Prosecutors in Wicomico County are dropping felony assault and hate crime charges against at least 12 of the 15 Salisbury University students charged in an off-campus attack in October.
Misdemeanor false imprisonment and second-degree assault charges remain for most of the defendants, and many trials are set for late January.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Bannerās website.
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