California posthumously pardons gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- In 1959, Ronald Erwin McNair walked into a South Carolina library. The 9-year-old aspiring astronaut wanted to check out a calculus book, but a librarian threatened to call the police if he didn't leave. McNair was black.

In a letter released Thursday, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), asked Governor Gavin Newsom to nominate an LGBTQ judge to the state’s high court to fill the vacancy left by retiring Associate Justice Ming W. Chin. Wiener and Gloria are members of the California Legislative LGBTQ caucus.

Popular Southern California punk venue Chain Reaction and Live Nation have announced the return of Chain Fest, which will feature a headlining set from Jimmy Eat World. Taking Back Sunday, Circa Survive, Saves The Day and Anberlin will also join the single-day event on May 23 at Fiv

California State Sen. Lena Gonzalez – Photo: Facebook.

© Getty Jennifer Aniston attends the 57th Annual ICG Publicists Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 07, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. It's surely the recipe for an awkward night - bumping into your ex-fiance with his new love. 

Not only is she this year’s breakthrough star; she’s also our unexpected meme queen. Billie Eilish’s Oscars 2020 meme reaction to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph was GIF-folder-fodder for even the best of us. The 18-year-old attended the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 9, and while seated in the audience of the Hollywood, California’s Dolby Theatre, she couldn’t hide a particularly hilarious face from the Oscars’ camera crew. We can already see ourselves copying it on the daily.

Bayard Rustin, left, is pictured with Martin Luther King, Jr. in this undated photo. Rustin was the architectural genius behind King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Rustin also mentored King in nonviolent civil disobedience. Photo: Monroe Frederick/Courtesy of the Estate of Bayard Rustin.

Richie Jackson and  his son Jackson Jason. (Photo provided by author)

Weiss starred in the classic trilogy of ice hockey films between 1992 and '96

 In a blistering editorial, The San Diego Union-Tribune, California’s third-largest daily newspaper, called out Republican former Rep. Darrell Issa for a homophobic attack ad against gay GOP political rival Carl DeMaio. The two are vying for the congressional seat vacated by longtime anti-LGBTQ Rep. Duncan Hunter, who resigned earlier this month after pleading guilty to a federal felony campaign corruption charge.

Kobe Bryant will posthumously be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

A patient in Southern California is the third person in the U.S. to be diagnosed with the new pneumonia-like virus from China, health officials said.The Centers for Disease Control confirmed a traveler from the Chinese city of Wuhan — the epicenter of the outbreak — tested positive for the virus, the Orange County Health Care Agency announced just before midnight Saturday.

Brad Pitt has joined the stars who turned down Keanu Reeves’ role in The Matrix.

© Getty LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 19: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston attend the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 19, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for SAG-AFTRA Foundation)