Sara Banks, Author at STR8DAR

LGBTQ+ Highlights from the US Midterm Elections

8Nov

By Sara BanksNo Comments

Politics

LGBTQ+ Highlights from the US Midterm Elections

The highly anticipated midterm elections are taking place today in the United States. As polls are beginning to close we’ve compiled some of the most important races featuring LGBTQ+ candidates that the community should be on the lookout for. 678 openly LGBTQ+ candidates made it onto the ballots and for the first time ever, there’s LGBTQ+ candidates running in every state. Although there’s never been an out lesbian governor in the U.S., both Oregon & Massachusetts are expected to break that tradition by electing Tina Kotek & Maura Healey for their respective governorships in today's elections. In California, Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia is expected to become the country’s first openly gay immigrant to be elected to congress. Texas legislator, Vento...

New York: 2 dead & dozens robbed by gang that targets gay men

7Nov

By Sara BanksNo Comments

US

New York: 2 dead & dozens robbed by gang that targets gay men

New York: Criminal gang that reportedly targets gay men accused of killing two people and robbing a dozen others. The gang supposedly haunt Hell’s Kitchen nightclubs where they are suspected of drugging and robbing their victims resulting in two deaths. Authorities have revealed that the two men that were killed, died under similar circumstances and were murdered 2 blocks apart within the same five weeks. The victims had been seen with three unknown men hours before being killed earlier this year. They were found without their phones and their accounts had been emptied. The preliminary toxicology report indicates that the two victims died from drug overdoses. Authorities claim that evidence points to the victims having been drugged with date-rape type drugs. Julio Ramirez, a ...

Italy Announces New LGBT Strategy as Its Right-wing Prepares for Power

7Oct

By Sara BanksNo Comments

World

Italy Announces New LGBT Strategy as Its Right-wing Prepares for Power

The outgoing Italian government has announced a new plan to help grant and protect equal rights for LGBT Italians as far-right politician Giorgia Meloni prepares to become the new prime minister of Italy. This after Italy’s far-right won the country’s Sept. 25 election. Georgia Meloni represents the post-fascist party “Brothers of Italy,” and ran on defending “traditional family values” and standing up to the “gay lobby.” In a statement to Reuters, Equal Opportunities Minister Elena Bonetti said that they "weren't very ideological,” when drafting the strategy but “were very concrete." The "National LGBT+ Strategy 2022-2025," which passed on Oct, 6. is a 30-page plan that seeks to tackle the discrimination LGBT people face in schools, hospitals, prisons, universi...

Russia Fines TikTok Over “Gay Propaganda”

5Oct

By Sara BanksNo Comments

Media

Russia Fines TikTok Over “Gay Propaganda”

The Kremlin hit social media network TikTok with a $51,000 fine on Tuesday for violating Russia’s controversial “gay propaganda” law. The “gay propaganda” law went into effect in 2013 and has been called a “classic example of political homophobia” by Humans Rights Watch. They warn that the legislation “targets vulnerable sexual and gender minorities for political gain.” The law supposedly seeks to “protect” children from information that “advocates a denial of traditional family values.” Earlier this year, Russian authorities broadened the scope of the law to ensure that it covers film, television and digital content. A judge from Moscow’s Tagansky district announced the fine yesterday according to reports. TikTok stands accused of featuring content that promotes feminis...

4Oct

By Sara BanksNo Comments

US

Former Gay Pornstar Arrested for Murder

New evidence has led South Florida authorities to link a former gay pornographic actor to a 12-year-old unresolved murder case. Aaron Michael Dobbins, also known as "Trace Michaels" in the adult industry, is now the primary suspect in the killing of Alfred “Chad” McMurray. 31-year-old McMurray was found dead from a gunshot wound in his Oakland Park home, just outside of Fort Lauderdale, in August of 2010. The identity of the killer remained a mystery until May of this year as “new information led homicide investigators to identify a possible suspect,” authorities announced last Friday. Investigators were able to obtain a search warrant earlier this year and collected Dobbins’ DNA which matched that of forensic evidence found under McMurray’s fingernails 12 years ago. The s...

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s LGBT Guidance Overruled by Judge

3Oct

By Sara BanksNo Comments

US

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s LGBT Guidance Overruled by Judge

A federal Texas judge overturned the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s LGBT guidance and deemed it unlawful. The EEOC’s guidance sought to provide workplace protections for LGBT Americans by suggesting that exceptions are made for LGBT workers when it comes to dress codes, locker room and bathroom policies. The Oct. 1 ruling by Trump appointed judge Matthew Kacsmaryk states that the EEOC’s guidance misinterprets the US Supreme Court’s 2020 decision that federal anti-bias laws prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace. Arguing that while the Supreme Court’s ruling establishes that employers can’t discriminate against employees because of their identity or sexual orientation, it doesn’t protect a workers “correlated co...

House Democrats Introduce Bill That Seeks To Build a National LGBTQ+ History Museum

30Sep

By Sara BanksNo Comments

LGBTQ History

House Democrats Introduce Bill That Seeks To Build a National LGBTQ+ History Museum

House representative Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, introduced a bill yesterday that seeks to establish a LGBTQ+ history museum in DC within the Smithsonian institution. If passed, an 8-member commission would be formed that in 8 months would issue an official review and recommendation pertaining to the construction of the new museum. If the legislation is successful, the new LGBTQ+ history museum would be established within the Smithsonian institution. Making it a part of the world’s largest group of museums and education and research centers. Pocan, who identifies as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, released a statement about the importance of the success of the bill. "As our community faces unprecedented attacks and attempts to erase our history, we must preserve and prote...

Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping Man as Part of Larger Scheme To Kidnap and Murder Grindr Users

29Sep

By Sara BanksNo Comments

US

Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping Man as Part of Larger Scheme To Kidnap and Murder Grindr Users

21-year-old Chance Seneca from Lafayette, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to one count of kidnapping. According to his plea agreement, Seneca admitted that on June 20, 2020, he used Grindr, a dating application for gay and bisexual men, to kidnap and attempt to murder H.W., a gay man. Specifically, Seneca acknowledged that he used Grindr to propose a meeting with H.W., and that he drove H.W. to an isolated house, took out a handgun and told him to put on handcuffs. Seneca then attempted to murder and dismember H.W. Seneca acknowledged that he intended to murder and dismember H.W. for the purpose of satisfying his homicidal urges, and that he had planned to continue murdering until he was caught or killed. “The actions and intentions of the defendant in this case were shocking,...

Former Scientology Officer Seemingly Outs John Travolta With Gay Kiss Claims

27Sep

By Sara BanksNo Comments

Entertainment

Former Scientology Officer Seemingly Outs John Travolta With Gay Kiss Claims

Mike Rinder, once a high-ranking officer within the church of Scientology, claims to have seen John Travolta kiss a male masseuse in his new book “A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology.” Before leaving the church in 2007, Rinder claims to have been assigned to help John Travolta with his public relations. This is when he allegedly witnessed the kiss. Rinder claims that he was in Travolta’s hotel room having a conversation with the actor when a male masseuse allegedly entered the room and gave Travolta a kiss on the mouth. “‘I’ll be in soon,’ John said as the masseur headed toward the bedroom,” Rinder claims in his book. In the memoir, the former Scientology official says that he was tasked with the mission to help Travolta with his...

26Sep

By Sara BanksNo Comments

World

Cuba Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage

Cuba’s new family code which legalizes same-sex marriage and makes adoption possible for same-sex couples, passed with about two-thirds of the populations’ votes. The referendum that was voted on yesterday also legalizes surrogate pregnancies, expanding LGBTQ+ Cubans' options to start their families. This makes Cuba the first communist country in history to allow same-sex marriages. The country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, expressed his optimism on Sunday by saying that he believed that the majority of the country would support the new family code. While endorsed by the Cuban government, the referendum did receive opposition from conservative and religious groups on the island. Gay people in Cuba were persecuted and sent to work camps in the 60s and 70s, something Fidel Castro ...