::: Leslie Mora was attacked and beaten by two men in Queens, NY on June 19 while walking home from a gay club. Her attackers Trinidad Tapia and Gilberto Ortiz, tugged at her dress and pulled her before they began to throw a barrage of punches that left her motionless on the street, Queens Tribune reports. When she attempted call for help on her cell phone, the two returned and continued the attack while calling her “faggot” in Spanish. Tapia later removed his belt to beat her on the head with the buckle. The assault ended only after a driver stopped and threatened to call police. Despite the viciousness of the attack which causes the transgender woman to suffer anxiety attacks when she goes out in public, the attackers were not initially charged with a hate crime – at least not until a complaint from a transgender advocacy group prompted the DA to “reopen” the file. Queens Tribune reports that are too many stories in the borough that are similar to Mora’s.
::: Actress Sharon Gless will be presented with the Gay Icon Award on July 19 at the 15th annual Philadelphia QFest for being “a compassionate champion for the gay & lesbian community.” The film festival which continues through July 20 features a screening of Gless’s new film, Hannah Free, in which she plays a wheel-chair-bound free-spirited lesbian. Gless, who now steals the show during her brief appearances on the cable show Burn Notice as the chain-smoking, fast-talking, and overprotective mother of a spy, cemented her gay-iconic status when she played the fast-talking, oddly-dressed, overprotective mother of a gay son on Queer as Folk.
::: Springfield, MO has an ordinance on the books declaring “solicitation by homosexuals” to be illegal. The unused “anti-gay flirting law” states, “It shall be unlawful for any person in a public place to invite, entice, persuade or to address a person of the same sex for the purpose of inviting, enticing or persuading such person to commit" a sexual act. The city attorney says the law, which was enacted in 1976, is unconstitutional and should have been stricken long ago during a review of antiquated ordinances. A member of the city council now says it should be wiped off the books immediately.
headlinks:
[India] Director says Bollywood needs to be more sensitive towards depiction of homosexuality [The Hindu]
[business] CEO of Rockstar Energy Drink’s says company will 'expand' LGBT policies, donations; Disavow’s father’s anti-gay tirades [SistersTalk]
[religion] Pope lets married right-wing ex-Anglican become Catholic [McClean’s]
[dadt] Palm Center legal memo outlines Pentagon options on gay ban [press release]
[media] Village Voice Media writers try to guess “best parks for sex” [Kansas City Pitch]
[India] Homosexuality not a taboo in Jharkhand tribe [Hindustan Times]
Last modified: 10 Jul 09 11:11
state_ny, state_mo