Category: David Lee

Controversial right-wing podcast host Joe Rogan come to the defence of a gay makeup artist with no criminal record who was deported under the US government’s crackdown on alleged Venezuelan gang members.

Last month, the Trump administration made headlines after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and deported – without legal process – alleged members of Tren de Aragua gang, a Venezuelan criminal organisation which was designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in February.

The order saw more than 200 migrants from the South American nation detained and loaded onto three planes to El Salvador, which has imprisoned US deportees in its notorious mega prison.

Family, friends and legal representatives for some of the men – who were in the US with legal permission and we awaiting hearings about their asylum cases – insist they are not gang members and have been unfairly swept up in the deportations.

One such deportee is Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, a 31-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who was detained at the Mexico-US border last year even though he was coming to the US to attend a prearranged asylum appointment in San Diego.

He told agents he was fleeing persecution for sexual orientation and political views.

However, agents saw tattoos he has on his wrists related to the Three Kings Day celebrations of his hometown Capacho, which he took part in for many years, and detained him.

The tattoos were said to be proof of his involvement in Tren de Aragua and as a result he was but on the deportee flights and sent to the maximum security Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in Tecoluca, a 40,000 capacity prison infamous for its human rights abuses.

Despite Rogan being a supporter of Trump – having endorsed him prior to the 2024 Presidential Election – in his most recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience he called out the deportations and specifically mentioned Hernandez’s case.

Rogan said it is “horrific” and “bad for the cause” if innocent people are being deported without evidence of criminality.

“Like, the cause is, let’s get the gang members out. Everybody agrees. But let’s not get innocent gay hairdressers lumped up with the gangs?,” he said.

“And then, like, how long before that guy can get out? Can we figure out how to get them out? Is there any plan in place to alert the authorities that they’ve made a horrible mistake and correct it?”

Speaking to The Guardian, Hernandez’s mother Alexis Dolores Romero de Hernández insisted her son is not involved in criminal activity.

“Let my son go. Review his case file. He is not a gang member,” she said.

“Everyone has these crowns, many people. But that doesn’t mean they’re involved in the Tren de Aragua … He’s never had problems with the law.”

“We know nothing. They say nothing. They give no information. That’s the trauma – not knowing anything about these young men, especially mine,” she added, saying she had not heard from her son since the evening before he was deported.

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NASA appears to be the latest government website to purge its LGBTQ+ content amid Trump’s crackdown on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programmes, after several resources and blogs were taken down.

Archives of NASA’s official government website sent to PinkNews revealed that several pages have either been modified or taken down completely to remove mentions of the LGBTQ+ community, Women’s History Month, Black History Month, or DEI initiatives.

One page, formerly called the “Diversity at NASA” news section, has had its name changed to “special observations,” while several DEI resources appear to have been removed completely from its news list, including interviews with Black and female NASA employees.

Another page – an 8 July 2024 blog post titled “NASA has Pride across the Universe” – appears to have been removed completely, with the unarchived link now showing a 404 “page not found” error message.

The now inaccessible blog post showcased an imitation of the Progress Pride flag created by NASA employee Rachel Lense using various images taken by NASA, including photos of Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. It was created, NASA writes, to “celebrate diversity within the queer community and the need for continued progress toward inclusion and acceptance in society.”

The apparent removal of the pages likely comes as part of US president Donald Trump’s continued campaign against DEI initiatives in public and private organisations.

The 78-year-old signed an executive order in January directing government chiefs to scrap DEI policies and initiatives and to scrub mentions of DEI, LGBTQ+ content, and other initiatives for marginalised groups from government websites.

Resources removed from various websites include vital resources on HIV prevention, social security support, data from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and other crucial pages.

NASA was reportedly among the organisations ordered to begin scrubbing mentions of DEI from its pages, according to 404 Media, which was anonymously handed a directive sent to civil servants ordering them to remove related keyphrases such as “DEIA,” “Indigenous People,” and “Underrepresented groups/people.”

“Per NASA HQ direction, we are required to scrub mentions of the following terms from our public sites by 5pm ET today,” the directive read. “This is a drop everything and reprioritise your day request.”

Stonewall National Monument scrubs mentions of Marsha P Johnson

As part of the DEI rollback, the Trump administration removed all references to transgender or non-binary people from the Stonewall National Monument’s official website, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

The New York monument, which commemorates the historic 1969 riot outside the Stonewall Inn, led by trans women of colour, is an integral part of the historic pushback against homophobic legislation of the 1900s.

Following Trump’s executive order, the website’s description replaced all uses of the acronym “LGBTQ+” with the acronym “LGB” and now only mentions lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in its explanation of the riots.

The move caused immense backlash against the government for trying to “erase our history.” A protest was held in February outside the monument to condemn the change.

“Trans people have been here since the beginning of time,” Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker, a prominent activist, said during the protest. “We fought in all the wars. We’re creators. We have families and children. We are just as much a part of this world as anyone else.”

Over 31,000 people signed a petition urging the government to reverse its active erasure of historical figures like Marsha P. Johnson, calling it “shocking and unjust.”

At the time of reporting, the Stonewall National Monument continues to erase trans people from history.

PinkNews has contacted NASA for comment.

The post NASA no longer has ‘Pride across the Universe’: LGBTQ+ content scrubbed from website in DEI purge appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

Greece has moved to ban surrogacy for gay male couples and single men, despite legalising same-sex marriage and adoption last year.

In February last year, Greece’s parliament approved a bill that saw it become the first country with a Christian Orthodox majority to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption.

The significant victory was, however, overshadowed by the fact same-sex couples would still be prohibited from seeking medically assisted reproduction through a surrogate, meaning they can only adopt or arrange surrogacy outside their homeland. 

‘Inability to carry a pregnancy does not refer to an inability arising from one’s gender’  

On Tuesday (1 April), Minister of Justice of Greece, Giorgos Floridis, announced the plan to ban gay couples and single men from having children via surrogacy. 

He noted that proposed changes are part of the broader civil code reforms in Greece, aiming to clarify the legal definition of “inability to carry a pregnancy”. 

Floridis told reporters: “We are now clarifying unequivocally that the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy does not refer to an inability arising from one’s gender. 

“In other words, a woman may be unable to carry a pregnancy whether she is in a male-female couple, a female same-sex couple or on her own.”

The passing of same-sex marriage and adoption in Greece last year wasn’t without opposition. 

Its main opposition was The highly influential Orthodox Church and its followers claimed that children were being treated as “accessories” and “companion pets” for gay couples.

The Church – which views homosexuality as a sin – also argued that the law will “confuse parental roles” and “weaken the traditional family”. But prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the move would “boldly abolish a serious inequality”.

The landmark change follows Greece allowing civil partnership for same-sex couples in 2015, and two years later giving legal recognition to gender identity. 

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.  

The post Greece moves to ban surrogacy for gay male couples and single men appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

Two separate California anti-trans bills, which aimed to keep transgender athletes out of sports teams consistent with their gender identity, have failed to move forward.

Both bills, AB-844 and AB-89 would have required that participation in sex-segregated California school programs, athletic teams, and facility use be based on a pupil’s sex, not gender identity.

They were blocked by lawmakers, preventing the California Interscholastic Federation – the governing body for high school sports – from banning trans girls from participating in the teams that align with their gender identity. 

Kate Sanchez, a Republican and Assemblymember who authored bill AB-89, claimed that the proposal was about “protecting women”. 

ABC reports that the Republican-backed bills drew a large crowd to the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism hearing, including right-wing political commentator Matt Walsh who showed up to give his two cents, saying: “allowing men to compete in women’s sports is deeply unfair.”

He finished his speech by saying: “Will you side with the truth… or will you disgrace yourselves by denying it. That is your choice to make.” They then made their choice, and rejected the bills.

‘This is wrong’

Democratic Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva spoke out the proposed bans, stating they were an attack on trans youth. She did, however, say she would support a study on trans athletes participation in sports. 

“This is wrong, and this is cruel,” she said of the proposed bills, as reported by ABC7 Eyewitness News. 

The outcome comes a day after Trans Day of Visibility (31 March) and a week after California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom spoke out against trans inclusion in women’s sports.

Newsom – who has been Governor of California since 2019 – has previously been a staunch supporter of trans and wider LGBTQ+ rights, having criticised drag bans, signed protections for LGBTQ+ youth into law and called out Florida governor Ron DeSantis for “demeaning” the community. 

However, the politician made his unexpected comments in the debut episode of his podcast This is Gavin Newsom in which he spoke with Turning Point USA co-founder and notable MAGA figure Charlie Kirk.

“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said of trans inclusion in sport. 

His comments follow US president Donald Trump signing an executive order banning trans women and girls from participating in female sports. 

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.  

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RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and musical theatre star The Vivienne had a plan to appear on Broadway prior to their death, their long-time manager Simon Jones has revealed.

The late drag star died on 5 January this year at their home near Chester after suffering a cardiac arrest related to the effects of taking the drug ketamine. They were 32-years-old.

While The Vivienne, born James Lee Williams, became internationally renowned for winning the inaugural season of Drag Race UK in 2019, they went on to have an illustrious career on stage and screen.

At the time of their death, they were preparing to appear as the Childcatcher in the UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and had recently completed a stint as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz in London.

PR expert Simon Jones, who managed The Vivienne’s career, has explained how the pair were working together to make sure the drag star became an even bigger global “superstar”.

“There’s some people that you work with that you just build a really strong affinity with. Because we were so set on doing things that were gonna break down those walls, we were very close, because we had the same goal,” Jones told Jon Dean on his podcast, All Out With Jon Dean.

Jones, who won the LGBTQ+ Trailblazer award at the inaugural Metro Awards last month, explained that he worked specifically to break down barriers for queer stars.

That’s why he worked to get The Vivienne as a contestant on ITV dancing show Dancing On Ice in 2023; they became the first drag star to appear on the show, and made it all the way to the finale with their dance partner Colin Grafton. 

“My goal for Viv was like, you are going to be a superstar. We’re going to start by trying to get you on things like Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Hunted. And we were having conversations about other shows, like the Blankety Blank Christmas special, all that kind of stuff which was great,” he shared.

“But what we were really trying to achieve was like, they were the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz, and they were in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and then we wanted to go into the West End, and then we wanted to go to Broadway.”

Jones said that there was a “big plan” to see The Vivienne’s career ascend to new heights, “so when they died so suddenly, it was a huge shock and just beyond devastating”.

Following their time on Drag Race UK they became the first international queen to return for All Stars, appearing on All Stars 7, the winner’s edition, in 2022. That same year, they were awarded the Attitude Magazine Inspiration Award.

At the Metro Awards, they were posthumously given the Icon Award.

“It was honestly only just beginning,” Jones continued.

“We had worked hard for a lot of groundwork and Viv had worked really hard. It really felt like it was gonna pay off. Andrew Lloyd Webber absolutely loved them as the Wicked Witch. That would’ve led somewhere I’m sure.

“They were smashing it in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, everything they were doing was to such a level that I really think that they would have been on Broadway. They were already being nominated for awards. It’s crazy that it was cut so short.”

An inquest into The Vivienne’s death will take place in June. Their family have since begun working with substance abuse charity Adferiad to raise awareness about the impact of substance abuse and addiction.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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