15-year-old Florida teen charged in anti-gay attack

On Thursday, a group of Florida school-age students, parents of LGBTQ youth, and a teacher filed suit against a recent bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis that prohibits LGBTQ-related content or lessons in primary grade classrooms.The lawsuit, filed in U.S.

A search is underway for a Florida mom who mysteriously vanished hours after sending a cryptic text message to her father following a custody exchange with her child’s dad.

Disney has issued a statement following the signing of Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed the controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, into law.

all sexually-related or “age-inappropriate” topics from being broached in primary grade classrooms. But Republicans rejected the amendment, choosing to ban only LGBTQ-specific content. LGBTQ advocates also argue that, in enforcing the bill, teachers will send an implicit message to LGBTQ-identifying students that they have no supportive allies and should closet themselves, which may lead some youth to contemplate suicide due to feelings of isolation or depression.DeSantis, who has been roundly criticized for his support of the bill, slammed LGBTQ advocates and Hollywood elites — who mocked the bill and Florida at the most recent Academy Awards on Sunday — for attacking him, saying: “If the people who held up degenerates like Harvey Weinstein as exemplars and as heroes and as all that, if those are the types of people that are opposing us on parents’ rights, I wear that like a badge of honor.“They don’t want to admit that they support a lot of the things that we’re providing protections against,” he said, according to Fox News.

Academy Awards in Los Angeles came in the opening monologue, when Wanda Sykes — one of the trio of hosts for the show — took a thinly veiled jab at Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that passed a Republican-controlled state legislature earlier this month.“We’re going to have a great night tonight,” said the openly gay Sykes. “And for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night.”She and fellow hosts Amy Schumer and Regina Hall then repeated the word “gay" multiple times, as many in the crowd such as Denzel Washington and Nicole Kidman smiled and applauded in delight.The bill, which passed earlier this month and has been staunchly defended by Gov.

Oscar hosts Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall opened the 94th Oscars telecast on Sunday by taking digs at Senator Mitch McConnell and Florida’s ‘Don’t’ Say Gay” Bill.“This year we saw frightening display oh how toxic masculinity turns into cruelty towards women and children,” Regina Hall said. “Damn that Mitch McConnell,” responded Wanda Sykes.Hall added: “I know but I was actually talking about ‘The Power of the Dog.'”“I watched that movie three times and I am halfway through it,” Sykes rebounded with the punchline about Jane Campion’s Netflix Western drama.The joke received a huge laugh from the audience as the three hosts then pivoted towards Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill controversy.“Well, we’re gonna have a great night tonight and for you people in Florida, we’re gonna have a gay night,” Sykes said.The audience roared as the three hosts chanted “GAY GAY GAY.”Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, is designed to prohibit Florida schools from teaching students between kindergarten and third grade about topics of sexual orientation or gender identity.The bill passed in the Florida Senate, and Republican Gov.

Oscar Isaac may be in the midst of promoting a new Disney series, but that doesn’t mean he’ll hold back criticism of the company’s corporate response to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

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A gay police sergeant from Miami, Florida, has claimed that  he is being victimised by the Tallahassee, Florida Police Department for reporting being robbed on a Grindr date. According to the New Times, Sergeant Tommy Reyes pulled his gun on his Grindr date after the man allegedly stole Reyes’s wallet. “I was a victim and I have nothing to hide but I cannot comment on an open investigation. I was a victim of a crime, and Tallahassee PD victimized me again,” Reyes said.Reyes, explaining the situation, said,  “I will stand strong and tell you my brothers and sisters that I was the victim of a crime, and I am once again being victimized by some of our own people.”The two arranged an anonymous or “anon” meeting in which you meet without showing your faces.

Angelique Jackson A group of Disney employees have planned a week of in-person and virtual walkouts in response to the company and CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill.On Monday afternoon, the Twitter account called Disney Walkout posted a message explaining that, “The LGBTQIA+ workers and allies at The Walt Disney Company are standing in solidarity together over the coming weeks.”The post then linked to an open letter written in partnership with members of the LGBTQ community across the Walt Disney Company (including Disney Corporate, Disney Television Animation, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Streaming, Enterprise Finance, Enterprise Technology/Global Information Security and Bento Box). “The recent statements by The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) leadership regarding the Florida legislature’s recent ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation,” organizers wrote.

This is heartbreaking.

awaits signature by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, prevents elementary school teachers from even acknowledging the existence of gay people, and is partly enforced by allowing parents to sue any school they believe has violated it.The Pixar employee letter, which is undated, was made public hours after Disney CEO Bob Chapek claimed during a shareholder meeting that the company had attempted behind the scenes to oppose the law — though of course it refused to take a public position on it even as the law appeared likely to pass.“We hoped that our company would show up for us.

In response to Chapek’s statement, Joni Madison, Interim President of the Human Rights Campaign, released the following statement: “The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this money from Disney until we see them build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates to ensure that dangerous proposals, like Florida’s Don’t Say Gay or Trans bill, don’t become dangerous laws, and if they do, to work to get them off the books. Businesses have had and continue to have a major impact in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, from marriage equality to the defeat of House Bill 2 in North Carolina and beyond.

Disney‘s Bob Chapek is breaking his silence amid backlash.

deployment of tear gas against protesters, the shoving of a kneeling protester, the shooting of a woman with a rubber bullet, and controversies stemming from the use of facial recognition technology to identify protestors — which critics have said has difficulty making accurate identifications of people of color.At the time, Scirotto said he wanted to ensure the department fostered better relations with people in the community who have historically been suspicious of, or had fraught relations with, police — a goal that many felt was a positive step. But in the fall, Scirotto promoted a list of minority employees, which led three white officers and one Hispanic officer to file complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that he was promoting people in a biased manner.The subsequent investigation into Scirotto’s actions found that “almost every witness,” out of 21 interviewed, “was dissatisfied” with Scirotto’s approach to promotions and “most believed that Chief Scirotto made clear his intention to promote based on race, gender or sexual orientation.”“Some believed it was about time changes were made, but stated if promotions were based on things such as race it would even hurt or undermine the people promoted,” the report said.The investigation report accused Scirotto of saying that photos on a conference room wall were “too white” and vowing: “I’m gonna change that.” It also alleged that, in a separate incident, Scirotto passed over a white man with 20 years tenure with the department for a promotion, instead narrowing the field down to two candidates of color, saying: “Which one is blacker?”Lagerbloom defended his decision to fire Scirotto, telling The Associated Press: “There’s everything we

Andy Cohen has slammed the “so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill” banning Florida teachers in classes up to third grade from talking about LGBTQ issues with their students.