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West Florida Healthcare, UCF Launch New Residency Program – UCF
West Florida Healthcare in Pensacola announced Tuesday their first ever Graduate Medical Education Residency Programs in partnership with the UCF College of Medicine.
Accredited by the Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the new programs will train residents in physical medicine and rehabilitation and obstetrics and gynecology. West Florida Healthcare is currently building applications for residency programs in emergency medicine, general surgery, internal medicine and psychiatric medicine for July 2022.
“West Florida Healthcare is very excited to partner with the University Of Central Florida College Of Medicine to bring this innovative new residency program to our community,” says Gay Nord, chief executive officer for West Florida Healthcare. “Our vibrant hospital services and expertly trained medical staff make West Florida Healthcare an ideal partner for the hospital-based portion of the clinical training necessary for the residents. In addition, attracting and retaining talent is a key component of expanding access to care and improving the health of our community. As these residents complete their training, our community and our region will see both economic and health benefits. We are fortunate to have the strong infrastructure necessary to create this program as well as our existing team of highly skilled physicians who can train the next generation of caregivers.”
With West Florida Healthcare, the College of Medicine and HCA have 28 residency and fellowship programs in greater Orlando, Ocala, Gainesville and Pensacola and are training more than 500 physicians in specialties that include internal and family medicine, surgery, psychiatry and endocrinology. Across the country, HCA Healthcare is the largest sponsor of residency and fellowship programs for physicians, training 4,754 residents and 309 fellows in 61 teaching in 16 states.
“We are delighted to partner with West Florida Healthcare and serve the Pensacola community,” says Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and the founding dean of the UCF College of Medicine. “Our mission at the UCF College of Medicine includes improving healthcare for all. Residency programs are an important part of that effort. Physicians often remain in the community where they had their residency training and our programs will allow Pensacola to have a supply of outstanding, compassionate young physicians, now and into the future.”
The first two residency programs at West Florida Healthcare will begin their training the week of June 21. As part of the program, residents will experience National Grand Rounds, a series of webinars that leverage accomplished clinical expertise from across HCA Healthcare that brings the nation’s leading medical experts to our residency programs.
“This residency program is rooted in evidence based medicine. Our experiential learning process leads to innovative, real-world patient health solutions and improves medical best practices, research and regulatory requirements, and helps to address the need for additional medical professionals to serve our communities,” says Julie DeCesare, OBGYN with West Florida Healthcare and Program Director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program. “Merging the rigor of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education program with high patient touch, our residents will deliver evidence-based care that demonstrates our mission to care for and improve human life.”
The Latest: Croatia advances, beats Scotland 3-1 | Sports | gazette.com – Colorado Springs Gazette
The Latest on soccer’s European Championship:
Croatia advanced to the round of 16 at the European Championship by beating Scotland 3-1.
Nikola Vlašić, Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić all scored for the 2018 World Cup finalists.
Scotland briefly equalized at 1-1 when midfielder Callum McGregor scored with a long-range shot in the 42nd minute.
Scotland finished last in Group D with one point from its three matches.
Raheem Sterling scored again at the European Championship and England beat the Czech Republic 1-0 to win Group D.
Jack Grealish drove down the left and chipped the ball towards the back post in the 12th minute for Sterling to head in.
Sterling also hit the post 10 minutes earlier.
The Manchester City midfielder scored England’s only other goal at the tournament in the opening win over Croatia.
Both England and the Czech Republic had already advanced to the round of 16 before the match.
Handshakes are fine but no hugs.
That’s what Sweden’s players have been told about their post-match conduct in the wake of two England players needing to isolate after coming into close contact with an opponent who ended up having the coronavirus.
Sweden plays Poland at the European Championship on Wednesday and coach Janne Andersson says “we want to make sure we are not faced with those situations and potentially get COVID.”
Andersson says “we don’t think hugs are a good idea but we think you can do a handshake if you wash your hands after.”
Georginio Wijnaldum will wear a captain’s armband emblazoned with the text “OneLove Football Unites” when the Netherlands plays in the round of 16 at the European Championship in Budapest on Sunday.
Wijnaldum says the team wants “to emphasize that we stand for inclusivity and connection. We are against any form of exclusion and discrimination.”
The Dutch soccer federation made no mention of Hungary’s National Assembly last week approving a bill against sharing LGBT content with minors. Human rights groups have denounced the measure.
The OneLove campaign was launched by the Dutch federation last September to fight racism and discrimination.
The Dutch team wore shirts carrying the OneLove logo in November when they warmed up before a match against Spain and again before World Cup qualifiers and friendlies in March, May and June.
The British government says more than 60,000 fans will be allowed into the semifinals and final of the European Championship at Wembley Stadium.
No details have been provided yet on how fans from overseas can attend without having to quarantine after flying into London.
The government had already agreed to increase the current group-stage capacity of about 22,000 to at least 40,000 for one game in the round of 16 game and the final three matches of the Euro 2020 tournament at the 90,000-seat stadium.
Now Wembley will be allowed to be at about 75% capacity for the semifinals and final.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says he is “grateful to the prime minister and the UK government for their hard work in finalizing these arrangements with us.”
UEFA said last week it was in talks with authorities in London about allowing fans in by staying in the country less than 24 hours and staying within bubbles.
England says players Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell will continue isolating until Monday.
The 10-day isolation comes after they came into contact with Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour at Wembley Stadium after Friday’s game.
England says the decision to extend the isolation followed talks with health authorities.
They will train alone.
Some Spain players were not happy with criticism from former Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.
Van der Vaart is a commentator for a Dutch television channel at the European Championship and reportedly criticized Spain for its poor performances at the tournament. Spanish media quoted him as saying that the team was “horrible” and only “passes the ball from one side to the other.”
Van der Vaart was a former Real Madrid and Real Betis player. He was a member of the Dutch team that lost to Spain in the 2010 World Cup final.
Spain midfielder Koke Resurrección says Van der Vaart was “seeking his moment of glory” and that he remembers “seeing him in the World Cup final.”
Forward Pablo Sarabia says Van der Vaart “made a mistake” with his comments “especially being a former player.” Sarabia says his only recollection of him is from the 2010 World Cup “when things didn’t go well for him.”
Spain faces Slovakia in its final Group E match on Wednesday. It needs a win to secure a place in the next round after consecutive draws against Sweden and Poland.
UEFA has declined the Munich city council’s application to have its stadium illuminated in rainbow colors for Germany’s final group game against Hungary at the European Championship.
The governing body says it understands the intention behind the proposal but it “must decline this request” because of its political context.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter’s application on behalf of the council made clear that it was to protest a law passed by Hungarian lawmakers last week that prohibits sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment. The law has been denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination by human rights groups.
UEFA says it believes “that discrimination can only be fought in close collaboration with others” and that it has proposed that Munich illuminates the stadium with the rainbow colors on June 28 for Christopher Street Day or between July 3-9 for the Christopher Street Day week in the city.
England and the Czech Republic both advanced to the round of 16 at the European Championship a day before their match.
Results in other groups allowed both to be guaranteed of at least one of the four best third-place spots.
The teams will meet at Wembley Stadium in London with no pressure for advancement but with first place in Group D on the line.
Scotland or Croatia can join them in the round of 16 with a victory. They both have one point from their opening two matches and will play each other at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Wisconsin’s Oldest Gay Bar Should Be Your Next Destination for Drag Shows – Thrillist
Co-owner Trixie Mattel wants to put This Is It! on the world map.
The façade of This Is It!—or “Tits,” if you’re in the know—is hard to miss. Right off Cathedral Square Park in downtown Milwaukee, its brown brick wall is painted with diamonds the color of the rainbow. Out front, the patio was recently given its own rainbow makeover—a splash of color that lets you know if you’re looking for the oldest gay bar in Wisconsin, well, this is it.
In business since 1968, a year before the Stonewall riots, the bar’s decor spans its history. Decades-old stained glass chandelier lamps dangle near a disco ball that, when turned on, signals two-for-one specials with fractured light. A TouchTunes jukebox provides music when the stage isn’t in use. Old Hollywood stars like Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable are tacked to a bathroom wall, and movie soundtracks play in the background while you pee.
But of course it’s not really the decor that people come for, or even the ridiculously cheap drinks (a Long Island Iced Tea is like, $3). This Is It! has secured its place in LGBTQ+ history by having broad appeal: an inclusive space to mingle, serving both subdued tipples to the weary after-work crowd and over-the-top nightlife for those seeking charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
“It’s basically the gay Cheers in Milwaukee.”
“It’s basically the gay Cheers in Milwaukee,” says drag superstar Trixie Mattel, aka Brian Michael Firkus, a RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite and winner of All Stars 3. Ten years ago Mattel had her first alcoholic drink, on her 21st birthday, at This Is It!. New to the whole drinking thing, she didn’t know what to order. “I was like, one cocktail drink please!” She ended up with a Tootsie Roll, a mix of Kahlua and orange juice that somehow tastes like the candy. The rest of the night is understandably a blur.
“It was not a drag bar. It didn’t have drag shows and drag queens didn’t really go there in general. But I really liked it there,” says Mattel. She became a regular, stopping in before drag shows in nightclubs. “I knew if I went in drag, I would get free drinks.”
Earlier this year, Mattel went from patron to co-owner of the bar, ensuring free drinks for life. And her business partner is George Schneider, the same guy who served her that very first drink ten years ago.
On the other side of our phone call, Mattel is at her home in Los Angeles prepping for the day—her dress a purple, pink, and green neon extravaganza, her hair a massive blonde bouffant, her signature makeup slicing her cheeks in two. The day’s activities include promoting either her makeup line, or bestselling book, possibly her documentary, or critically-acclaimed album. “The queens say I don’t go anywhere without having something to sell,” she quips. Next month she begins work on an HGTV show about the renovation of her new seven-room, themed hotel in Palm Springs.
“I believe in my POV as far as creating experiences,” Mattel says. “I want to be able to create experiences that are extremely gay. I’m so gay that when I leave a building it’s like somebody burned toast in that room. Like weeks later you can still tell that I was there.”
But her investment in This Is It! is less about pink burned toast and more about preservation: of a place, and of a mindset, especially at a time when queer bars are rapidly shutting down. 37% of queer nightlife spaces closed between 2007 and 2019 in the US, and that number drastically rose during the pandemic. Mattel’s involvement had been in the works for a while, but finalizing it this year has helped the bar flourish post-Covid.
“I just wanted [the bar] to be exactly what it used to be for me,” Mattel says. “My life is so crazy and busy that when I take time off, I want to go back to Milwaukee and stay in my house and go to my favorite bar, and I want it to be the same experience I had when I was 21.”
But there might be some changes. “Of course now that I’m an owner drinks will be $25 each. All my friends are like ‘you own the bar, I’m gonna get free drinks!’ And I’m like, ‘no you’re not. You had a better chance getting a free drink before I owned it, for sure.’”
The origins of This Is It! were not so much queer as it was a judgement-free space that embraced all types. That’s thanks to June Brehm, who opened the cocktail bar in 1968. The story goes that when she found an available space in a mostly vacant office building she said, “This is it!” and set up shop.
The 2012 book “Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin’s Historic Bars & Breweries” explains the shift in clientele: “In the late 1960’s… Gay bars were far from common, but [Brehm] knew a lot of gay people and wanted to create a comfortable and safe gathering place during a time when gays suffered great discrimination.” At the time, serving LGBTQ clientele was dangerous and technically illegal in Wisconsin, resulting in raids and brawls.
This Is It! was particularly convenient for its front and back entrances, the latter of which was used by closeted patrons. (“There’s still a back entrance,” says Mattel. “I’d say at this point it’s usually two guys trying to sneak out so none of their friends see that they’re leaving together.”) For some, it was an adopted home when their own families had turned their backs on them; Brehm kept the bar open on holidays, serving Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.
“We love a theme, and we love a dumb theme.”
Brehm eventually passed the bar to her son Joe, and George Schneider joined the team in 2010, taking over operations when Joe died. “He’s very good-looking, very Midwestern, and he’s very nice to everyone,” says Mattel of Schneider. “And the bar is his whole life.”
Schneider is also a fiend for seasonal theme nights. “We love a theme, and we love a dumb theme,” says Mattel. A Silence of the Lambs-themed Halloween featured lamb chops hanging from the ceiling, baskets of lotion, and pictures of Shari Lewis. One Christmas, the letters of the alphabet hung around the bar—“It was like a dizzying number of figures, ABCD everywhere”—but the L was missing. The theme: Noel. “George gets some kind of sick joy out of picking something that would confuse most people. But what’s the point of owning a bar if you can’t do a joke that only you find funny?”
In 2018, the bar expanded with an event space for karaoke nights, drag bingo nights, dance parties, movie nights, and performances. And Mattel’s co-ownership does have its perks, of course. “That’s a nice thing, to be able to text huge name gay talent and say ‘Can you come to my bar and do a number?’” A recent performance featured Katya Zamolodchikova, Drag Race alum and Mattel’s co-host of multiple series, including Viceland’s The Trixie & Katya Show and the delightfully unhinged UNHhhh. The bar broke its record for the number of drinks sold.
And then there was the time Mattel dropped in unannounced for a surprise free show. “Literally I came out on stage and no one clapped,” she recalls. “I think they thought I was somebody doing a Trixie impersonation. I was like, okay, I thought this would be a freak out moment, but it truly was like ‘You don’t even look like her.’”
A year after expanding the bar, a permanent wall of queer history was added in conjunction with the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. And the location of This Is It! also has a deeper historical significance: Milwaukee’s first Pride March in 1989 concluded at nearby Cathedral Square.
That first march has turned into Pridefest, one of the country’s largest and longest-running LGBTQ+ festivals. Rather than a one-day street parade, the festival takes over the fairgrounds for four days, with performances on eight stages. “It’s huge, crazy A-list talent, on multiple stages, thousands and thousands of people. It’s like Lollapalooza or something,” says Mattel.
And though This Is It! won’t be painted pink anytime soon, it will soon have yet another piece of history: the coveted scepter that Mattel received as winner of All Stars 3. “We’re going to have it mounted on the wall. It was just rotting at my house and I was like, let’s put it on display and let’s let people look at it,” she says.
The ultimate goal is to make This Is It! a must-do for all visitors to Milwaukee. “It’s already legendary to everyone in town; my MO is making it more of a landmark,” she says. “When you go to Kenosha you go to the Mars Cheese Castle. When you go to Milwaukee, you should go to This is It!”
Vanita Salisbury is Thrillist’s Senior Travel Writer. Tell her more about this Kenosha cheese castle.
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‘The NFL needed this’: How Carl Nassib’s coming out as gay can change football and society – USA TODAY
Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jeff Rohrer said Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib could change the world after becoming the first active openly gay NFL player.
Rohrer would know. He played in the NFL from 1982 to 1989, and in 2018, he came out as gay when he became what was believed to be the first former or current NFL player to enter into a same-sex marriage.
“He has no idea how many people he’s affecting – in a good way,” Rohrer said. “The NFL needed this, to get past the milestone. In the long run, the world we live in needs more guys like (Nassib) who are open and brave. It really does help for anyone in the country who is currently closeted or faces homophobia.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of the advocacy organization GLADD, said Nassib’s journey will “not only have a profound impact on the future of LGBTQ visibility and acceptance in sports, but send a strong message to so many LGBTQ people, especially youth.”
Yet the biggest foreseeable challenge for Nassib, 28, could be his own world that is about to change – becoming a beacon of hope for closeted athletes everywhere – and managing the national spotlight that comes with his sexual orientation being front and center.
“He’s going to be asked questions about being gay now until the end of his career. That’s what he’s signing up for,” Rohrer said. “We can only hope the message to others of his experience remains positive.”
Will more closeted NFL players or professional athletes follow in Nassib’s footsteps now? Experts say it could be more of a wait-and-see approach vs. an immediate domino effect.
“He’s humanizing an issue that needed humanizing,” said licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Susan Wilson, who was a treatment clinician for the NFL and counseled numerous closeted players. “But there are several things that make it challenging to come out. Football is a very masculine, macho sport. Being gay in that environment embedded in homophobia is not easy.”
Michael Sam came out as gay before being selected in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft but never played a game in the NFL. And free agent Ryan Russell came out as bisexual in 2019. But Nassib already has a portion of his future secured, having just signed a three-year contract with the Raiders in March 2020. He was a third-round pick in the 2016 draft and has played in 73 games.
MIKE FREEMAN:Carl Nassib’s coming out doesn’t just make history. Raiders DL could save lives
“This is almost a guaranteed success story,” said Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of LGBTQ sports online magazine Outsports. “The most meaningful thing he did was come out over Instagram in a video because it showed the truth of his demeanor. He spoke with such joy and ease, and that showed the relief you feel from being yourself with family and friends supporting you.”
Nassib is receiving support from many places. Former Kansas State player Scott Frantz, the first Power 5 college football player to compete while openly gay, told USA TODAY Sports he messaged Nassib to express his gratitude: “Thanks for doing what you did. You don’t know how much pressure that relieved off my shoulders. I felt like I failed our community when I couldn’t make it to the NFL.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement: “We share his hope that someday soon statements like (Nassib’s) will no longer be newsworthy.”
“Coming out as gay is going to continue to be a big deal or news story for athletes until it’s a regular occurrence,” said Ryan O’Callaghan, who came out after retiring in 2017. “We’re not there yet.”
O’Callaghan, who wrote the book “My Life on the Line” in 2019, said that this will be Nassib’s story to tell and that the spotlight can follow his authenticity.
Wilson, who helped O’Callaghan on his coming-out journey when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs, said the fear that many closeted athletes face is, indeed, based on harsh realities.
“Players feel that all of the sudden camaraderie with several players disappear because of being gay. The psychological aspect of coming out, facing fear of abandonment and potentially losing their career, is most prominent,” Wilson said. “As a clinician I have to tell them how things could go good, but also how things could go bad. Because families have disowned players when they come out, and people act in ways that are so sadly disappointing when they hear you’re gay.”
Former Arizona State lineman Chip Sarafin, who in 2014 became the first NCAA Division I football player to come out, said he felt that type of contempt from people close to him. But despite homophobic language still prevalent in locker room culture, Sarafin said, teammates probably won’t be a concern for Nassib.
“It’s going to be a continuous coming-out journey for him every single day by being in the spotlight,” Sarafin said. “But much of that will be because of the outside world. I expect his teammates to love him for who he is as a person and player, to see it as one shade of who he is.”
Rohrer said: “All my paranoia and thoughts and beliefs when I was closeted turned out to be wrong. I had two people of a thousand who didn’t act well. I can only hope that’s the case for Carl.”
LGBT activists sign letter of no confidence calling for Belfast Pride organisers to resign – Belfast Live
Leading LGBT elected representatives and activists have signed a letter of no confidence in the organisers of Belfast Pride, calling for them to resign.
They raised concerns over communication, governance and a “continued lack of transparency or accountability” in the organisation that runs the annual parade and festival.
The letter was signed by 22 LGBT activists including Alliance MLA Andrew Muir, SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite and Green Party councillors Malachai O’Hara and Anthony Flynn.
Other signatories include UUP North Belfast representative Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston, transgender rights campaigner Ellen Murray, Alliance activist Micky Murray and SDLP communications officer Martin McAuley.
The letter, seen by Belfast Live, read: “We cannot be complicit in the continued failure of Belfast Pride to represent our community in a transparent, accountable and inclusive way. Our Queer community deserves better.
“Unless radical change occurs we no longer have any confidence in the current organisation of Belfast Pride to deliver a fit-for-purpose city-wide LGBT+ festival.”
It added: “The chair and any remaining board members should immediately begin a process of establishing a new board and tender their resignations.”
Belfast Pride acknowledged a need to “improve our consultation and communication” but said its committee would not be resigning.
It said the organisation is on a “journey of change” and has been working on restructuring plans that include adding permanent representation from other LGBT groups.
The joint letter follows confusion surrounding plans for this year’s Belfast Pride, which will mark 30 years since the city’s first Pride parade.
Some pubs began publicising their own date for Pride events amid an absence of information, but amended their plans after Belfast Pride subsequently confirmed details.
LGBT organisation Cara-Friend, which had been involved in efforts to improve Belfast Pride, last week said it “cannot continue to engage with Belfast Pride in its current format”.
Belfast Pride later said the festival would take place from July 23 to August 1, but amid the pandemic no parade has been organised for Pride Day on Saturday July 31.
“There will be a mix of online events and in-person events but there isn’t a safe way to make the Pride Day events happen in person,” it tweeted.
In their letter, LGBT activists said efforts have been made to offer support to Belfast Pride and address concerns, but there remained a “significant lack of clarity, verging on confusion”.
Belfast’s three LGBT councillors contacted Belfast Pride in March to seek clarity on issues including its legal and charitable status, constitution, audited accounts and funding.
“To date the elected representatives have not as yet even received the most basic professional courtesy of acknowledgement or receipt of this correspondence and as a result no further clarity has been provided,” the letter said.
“Many others have been trying to get information in relation to Belfast Pride 2021 to complete silence.”
The signatories described their intervention as an “option of last resort” as Belfast Pride has “refused to engage”.
“In failing to provide any answers, Belfast Pride has failed our community and created an opportunity for those who have resisted progress on LGBT+ rights to criticise our community,” they added.
In a statement, Belfast Pride said the festival has grown significantly in the last decade and it has been working on restructuring plans.
“We always want to improve Belfast Pride and we have been working over the last year to build a better organisation that fully represents our community and manage the challenges that growth brings,” it said.
“We have outlined our plans and fully addressed questions on our charity status, legal status, accounts and development work and sought funding to help fund future plans.”
It added: “Belfast Pride is on a journey of transformative change and we will continue to demand change for our community and make sure that we are organised in the best possible way to do this.”
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards vetoes trans youth sports bill – Washington Blade
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department on Sunday released additional information about an incident at a Wilton Manors Pride parade that left one person dead and another injured.
A press release notes a 77-year-old man who was “a participant who had ailments preventing him from walking the duration of the parade and was selected to drive as the lead vehicle” was behind the wheel of a 2011 white Dodge Ram pickup truck that struck the two people near the Stonewall Pride Parade’s staging area shortly before 7 p.m. on Saturday.
“As the vehicle began to move forward in anticipation for the start of the parade, the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly, striking two pedestrians,” reads the press release. “After striking the pedestrians, the driver continued across all lanes of traffic, ultimately crashing into the fence of a business on the west side of the street.”
“The driver remained on scene and has been cooperative with investigators for the duration of the investigation,” further notes the press release. “A DUI investigation of the driver was conducted on scene and showed no signs of impairment.”
The press release confirms the driver and the two people he hit are members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue transported both victims to Broward Health Medical Center “with serious injuries.” The press release notes one of the victims died shortly after he arrived at the hospital.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department, which is leading the investigation, has not publicly identified the victims and the driver, but the press release describes the incident as a “fatal traffic crash.” The press release notes the second victim remains hospitalized at Broward Health Medical Center, but “is expected to survive.”
“While no arrests have been made, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department continues to investigate this incident and will not be releasing the names of the involved parties due to the status of the investigation,” says the press release. “The Fort Lauderdale Police Department asks anyone who may have witnessed this incident, who has not already spoken to investigators, to contact Traffic Homicide Investigator Paul Williams at (954) 828-5755.”
The pickup truck narrowly avoided U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who was in a convertible participating in the parade. Florida Congressman Ted Deutch was also nearby.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic accident that occurred when the Stonewall Pride Parade was just getting started,” said Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus President Justin Knight in a statement he issued after the incident. “Our fellow chorus members were those injured and the driver was also part of the chorus family.”
“To my knowledge, this was not an attack on the LGBTQ community,” added Knight. “We anticipate more details to follow and ask for the community’s love and support.”
Fort Lauderdale mayor initially described incident as anti-LGBTQ ‘terrorist attack’
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis initially described the incident as “a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” without any official confirmation. Detective Ali Adamson of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department on Saturday confirmed to reporters that investigators are “working with” the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but stressed the “investigation is active and we are considering and evaluating all possibilities.”
“Last evening, at the start of what was to be a celebration of pride for the LGBT community and commemoration of our hard-won victories for equality, our community faced the worst of tragedies. The grief of our LGBT community — and greater Fort Lauderdale as a whole — is palpable,” said Trantalis on Sunday in a statement he posted to his Facebook page.
“I was an eyewitness to the horrifying events. It terrorized me and all around me. I reported what I saw to law enforcement and had strong concerns about what transpired — concerns for the safety of my community. I feared it could be intentional based on what I saw from mere feet away,” he added.
Trantalis added “law enforcement took what appeared obvious to me and others nearby and investigated further — as is their job.”
“As the facts continue to be pieced together, a picture is emerging of an accident in which a truck careened out of control,” he said. “As a result, one man died, two others were injured and the lives of two members of Congress were at risk. My heart breaks for all impacted by this tragedy.”
Disparities are worse for LGB millennials than boomers – Futurity: Research News
Mental and physical health disparities are worse among younger generations of queer Americans, according to a new study comparing lesbian, gay, and bisexual millennials and their older peers to those of their straight counterparts.
In the first-ever population-based national study comparing mental and physical health of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) Americans to their straight counterparts, Michigan State University sociologist Hui Liu and research partner Rin Reczek, professor of sociology from Ohio State University, find that when compared to their straight counterparts, LGB millennials have worse health disadvantages than their older peers, though disparities persist throughout older generations as well.
“Because younger LGB generations have grown up in a more progressive era, we expected that they may experience lower levels of lifetime discrimination and thus have lower levels of health disadvantage than older LGB generations. However, our results showed the opposite to be true,” Liu says.
The study examined five key indicators of physical and mental health—psychological distress, depression, anxiety, self-rated physical health, and activity limitation—of nearly 180,000 study participants across millennial, generation X, baby boomer, and pre-boomer generational cohorts.
Surprisingly, Liu and Reczek found that health disadvantages for LGB individuals increased among more recent generational cohorts, with LGB millennials suffering more health disadvantages than LGB gen-Xers or baby boomers. Moreover, bisexual respondents experienced even worse health disparity trends across generations than their gay and lesbian peers.
For example, the study found that gay and lesbian baby boomers are 150% more likely to experience both anxiety and depression compared to straight peers; bisexual Boomers are also about 150% more likely to experience anxiety than their straight peers but over twice as likely to experience depression.
Comparatively, for gay and lesbian millennials, the likelihood of feeling anxious and depressed is almost 200% and 250% higher than that of their straight peers, respectively, and bisexual millennials have an almost 300 and 380% increased likelihood than their straight peers.
“Older LGB people have experienced significant interpersonal and institutional discrimination throughout their lives, so they may perceive the current era to be relatively better than the past, and therefore may experience improved well-being as a result of this perception,” Liu says.
She also suggests that the findings could be explained by the fact that older LGB people have had more time to develop better coping skills than their younger peers, and that more millennials identify as LGB than older generations.
Liu is hopeful that this study will demonstrate that advancements in civil rights and social acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community have not yet translated into health equity.
“These health disparities may be a result of more insidious and deeply embedded factors in US society that are not eradicated simply with changes in marriage or discrimination laws,” Liu says.
“Instead, more drastic societal changes at both the interpersonal and institutional levels must take place. Public policies and programs should be designed and implemented to eliminate health and other major disadvantages among LGBTQ+ Americans.”
The study appears in the journal Demography.
Source: Michigan State University
Rainbow Capitalism – otdowntown.com
Walking through the Village in June means being surrounded by rainbows. Each year, more and more businesses have put up displays in honor of Pride Month, broadcasting their support of the LGBT community. Interestingly, these displays have become popular in recent years as LGBTQ rights have advanced and being out has become more socially acceptable, leading some to question the motives of the businesses. Are they trying to be allies to the community or just gain a few extra customers? Does it matter what their motives are as long as LGBTQ people feel safe? I visited several Soho and West Village businesses to find out more.
My first stop was Urban Outfitters, a company that caters to young millennials and Gen Z through a collection full of modern spins on nostalgic favorites; graphic tees often reference pop culture events that happened before the company’s target customers were born. Urban’s liberal leaning and young customers made a Pride display expected, and they did not disappoint. Giant letters spelling out HAPPY PRIDE filled up an entire window, surrounded by neon rainbow lights.
Inside, the store looked the same as it does the rest of the year. The employees didn’t know much about Urban’s policy during Pride Month or the company’s support of the LGBTQ community. Only one salesperson knew anything about the Pride display in front of the store, which was that it was commissioned by Urban’s resident display artist. No one knew anything about how many years the store has been doing Pride displays, or their policy towards LGBTQ support outside of window displays.
Urban Outfitters has been criticized for years over insensitive clothing items that are seen to trivialize serious conditions or make fun of marginalized communities. Most recently, they released a statement apologizing for past racial insensitivity and promising to “do more than what we’ve done to date.” The lack of employee knowledge on policies regarding marginalized groups like the LGBTQ community, however, may point to this being a surface-level apology instead of a marker of institutional change.
LGBTQ Employees
Urban Outfitters wasn’t the only business whose employees weren’t able to answer my questions. Maison Kitsune, a Paris-based music label and clothing boutique, had their Soho store decorated with cutesy rainbow designs and a placard promoting the Trevor Project, a LGBTQ charity, but their salesperson wasn’t given permission to answer my questions. Maison Kitsune’s website features plenty of rainbow apparel you can buy, but no mention of the Trevor Project or any other LGBTQ foundation. BeautyCounter, a makeup boutique located on Prince St., highlights its LGBTQ employees on its website, along with the LGBTQ organizations it partners with, yet the salesperson I talked to wasn’t aware of any of this.
Anita Dongre, a clothing company based in Navi Mumbai, had a modest Pride window display, but no further information on the company’s actions towards the LGBTQ community. Their salesperson informed me that this was only the second year their New York location had started putting up displays for Pride, highlighting the surge in awareness by mainstream companies.
Some window displays, though, were extremely informative, making it easier to understand a company’s Pride policy. For instance, Canadian fashion boutique Aritzia boasts an impressive window display complete with a QR code that sends viewers to a webpage dedicated to information about the origins of pride, Aritizia’s pride partnerships, and its overall commitment to diversity. LGBTQ influencers wear Aritizia’s clothing items under descriptions of their goals for the community and issues they care about, while the letters in LGBTQ are all carefully defined. The webpage is hip, colorful, and almost overwhelming with how much information it throws at you – starting with Aritzia’s “continuous partnership with the Stonewall Community Foundation.” Information about the foundation itself is linked at the bottom of the page, along with a statement from Aritzia about how they’re committed to diversity and inclusion.
As this comprehensive display indicated, the company seems dedicated to preserving LGBTQ rights. And although their in-store employees couldn’t give me as much information as was online, they were very interested in what I was writing about, asking me about how I felt about the various Pride campaigns that can be found all over the city.
Jewelry Discounts
Other companies offered support in different, more concrete ways. TAI Jewelry, tucked away on Mott St., promised “20% off all rainbow jewelry all month long” on a blackboard outside the store. When I asked their retail manager about the company’s policy on Pride and their actions towards the LGBTQ community, she assured me that TAI has always shown support during Pride Month. Interestingly, this year is the first time TAI has offered a discount on jewelry, and it’s largely due to the pandemic: Business is still slower than usual, as many people have suffered a loss of income, so the discount both supports the LGBTQ community and a local shop.
The harsh reality is that even as restrictions ease, many businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and so must put profits before Pride – or, at least, monetary support of Pride. Businesses like TAI have tried to balance profit with something that benefits customers, but not all businesses can afford to do this. As I walked through the streets of the West Village, I saw rainbow flags everywhere I looked, even if the business displaying them had no other mention of Pride.
Some stores make it an effort to show support for the LGBTQ community year-round. I walked into McNally Jackson’s Nolita location wondering about their “Pride in Space” window display, only to discover that the collection was only one part of the bookstore’s efforts to be inclusive. Parish Turner, a salesperson at the bookstore, informed me that while the store’s LGBTQ sci-fi books were being showcased this month, McNally Jackson always has numerous LGBTQ books in-store and makes an effort to invite writers from diverse backgrounds for its events. While they aren’t associated with a specific nonprofit or charity, the literature on display shows a widespread acceptance and support of the community, strengthened by the fact that in-person employees are aware of company policy.
Still, there was one thing I was unsure about. “Why space?” I asked.
Turner shrugged. “It’s fun!”
I had to agree.
Nassib becomes first active NFL player to come out as gay – Cecil Daily
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib on Monday became the first active NFL player to come out as gay.
Nassib, who is entering his sixth NFL season and second with the Raiders, announced the news on Instagram, saying he wasn’t doing it for the attention but because he felt representation and visibility were important.
“I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” Nassib said in his video message from his home in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest.
“I really have the best life. I got the best family, friends and job a guy can ask for. I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I’m really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important.”
Nassib added in a written message that followed the video that he “agonized over this moment for the last 15 years” and only recently decided to go public with his sexuality after receiving the support of family and friends.
“I am also incredibly thankful for the NFL, my coaches, and fellow players for their support,” Nassib wrote. “I would not have been able to do this without them. From the jump I was greeted with the utmost respect and acceptance.”
Nassib, whose announcement came during Pride Month, added that he was donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that seeks to prevent suicides among LGBTQ youth.
“The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like his will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. We wish Carl the best of luck this coming season.”
Nassib’s announcement also was greeted by Brian Burke, president of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Burke has been a major proponent of LGBTQ rights for more than a decade since his late son Brendan came out as gay.
“Proud to support Carl and his decision to come out as the first active gay player in the NFL,” Burke said. “I hope other sports executives will join me in publicly expressing their support as well.”
The Raiders showed their support, writing, “Proud of you, Carl,” on their repost of Nassib’s message on Twitter and adding a black heart emoji.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, tweeted: “Our union supports Carl and his work with the Trevor Project is proof that he — like our membership — is about making his community and this world a better place not for themselves, but for others.”
Penn State coach James Franklin said he and his wife Fumi were inspired by Nassib’s announcement to donate $10,000 to the Trevor Project.
“I am very proud of Carl for his courage and voice,” Franklin said. “This announcement doesn’t surprise me because if you know Carl, you know his strength. Carl’s story continues to add chapters which will have an impact well beyond the field of play.”
Nassib led the nation with 15½ sacks in 2015, Franklin’s second season in State College, and he was a cornerstone of the program’s path back to contention.
“Carl’s brave announcement will forge a path for others to be true to their authentic self,” Franklin added. “I was proud of Carl when he led the nation in sacks, but I’m even more proud of him now.”
Former All-Pro linebacker Shawne Merriman commended Nassib and suggested teammates and opponents won’t have a problem with his announcement.
“Congrats to Carl Nassib on coming out that’s a big step, I think that most players are concerned if you can play or not,” Merriman tweeted.
In a post saying he was proud of Nassib, Hall of Famer Warren Moon said he played with several gay football players in a storied pro career that spanned from 1978 to 2000 but none were “comfortable enough to go public.”
“They were great teammates, & obviously very talented. As long as they helped us win and were great teammates, their sexual preference was never a issue,” Moon wrote. “We live in a different time now where diversity is much more accepted. Cheers Carl, and I hope this lets other athletes know, its OK to say who you are…”
Added fellow Nittany Lions alum and Giants running back Saquon Barkley, “Much respect brudda.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ advocacy organization, called Nassib’s “powerful coming out is a historic reflection of the growing state of LGBTQ visibility and inclusion in the world of professional sports, which has been driven by a long list of brave LGBTQ athletes who came before him.”
Ellis said Nassib’s story “will not only have a profound impact on the future of LGBTQ visibility and acceptance in sports, but sends a strong message to so many LGBTQ people, especially youth, that they too can one day grow up to be and succeed as a professional athlete like him.”
More than a dozen NFL players have come out as gay after their careers were over.
Former University of Missouri defensive star Michael Sam was the first openly gay football player ever selected in the NFL draft, going in the seventh round to the then-St. Louis Rams in 2014. But he never made the final roster and retired in 2015 having never played in an NFL regular-season game.
Nassib is a sixth-year pro who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2016 in the third round (65th overall) out of Penn State. He played two seasons for the Browns and two for Tampa Bay before joining the Raiders in 2020. He has 20 1/2 sacks in 73 career games.
The Six Weeks that Changed the Trajectory of Oregon’s Gay Rights Movement – Portland Monthly
For six giddy, mostly lost-to-time weeks in the spring of 2004, all of Portland was in love with love.
All over the city—on the steps of the county building, under the blooming cherry trees in Waterfront Park, and at dimly lit, hastily repurposed nightclubs—deliriously happy gay couples were getting hitched, more than 3,000 of them, after Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses for all in early March of that year. (I would know—I was there, reporting on the bacchanalia for the Associated Press.) There was an urgency to it, too. Everyone seemed to know that this much joy could only be ephemeral.
Sure enough, by mid-April, a local judge put a stop to it, saying the four Multnomah County commissioners who’d made it all possible had overstepped their authority. (All four are out of politics now—former county chair Diane Linn would go on to lose her seat to one Edward Tevis Wheeler.)
And what began so joyfully turned ugly that fall, when Oregon voters passed a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to “one man and one woman.” It would take 10 more years for that to be overturned.
Meanwhile, the episode slipped into history, mostly forgotten by except by those who were there. The county took back couples’ licenses, refunded the fees they’d paid, but did ask them to send in mementoes of their wedding days, which live now in the archives of the Oregon Historical Society—four or five boxes full of heartfelt diary entries, cocktail napkins, photos of oh-so-mid-2000s era baggy blazers, often matching, punctuated by the occasional Jessica McClintock dress, for the daring.
“I remember saying to Bear, ‘Goddamnit, Bear, let’s be part of the revolution,’” recalls Mary Walston, now retired from the city of Eugene. Walston had been with her partner, teacher Kathleen Bear, since 1979. For Bear, the chance to get married meant stepping into the light for the first time in a long career of worrying that parents would pull their kids out of school if they knew about her sexuality.
“When we heard about it the night before, we rushed down to the mall, because I wasn’t going to get married without a ring,” Bear remembers. “I get out of the car and realize I have two different shoes on because I ran out of the house. That was the first time I told anyone I was gay in public.”
After getting their license, they drove home to Eugene, and three weeks later threw a party to celebrate at a local athletic club. “We have Scottish terriers, so everything was decorated with terriers, and we had karaoke and a DJ,” Walston says. A few weeks after that, they found out their wedding license was invalid.
“I was mad—I thought about having to go back in the closet,” Bear says. “I thought about having to be very secret again, very careful out in public. I felt less validated, less worthy, still a second-class citizen.” In 2014, when federal judge Michael McShane ruled that Oregon’s ban on gay marriage violated the equal protection clause, the two got married again, in their backyard, surrounded by family and friends, on a sticky-hot summer day—but they still consider their real anniversary to the first one.
Trina Altman and Laurel Ladwig came from their home in Albuquerque to be married in Oregon on the spur of the moment in 2004. They recently found the letter they received from Multnomah County saying that their marriage was “null from inception”—a tiny punch to the gut, even 17 years and another wedding ceremony later.
They kept their 2004-era wedding rings on out of commitment and defiance. In 2013, they got a chance to marry again, this time in New York, which they chose because they figured New Yorkers would have their back and not yank away their license. For their second ceremony, Ladwig re-proposed, hiding a joke Star Wars–themed ring in the chard she was growing in their backyard, embossed with the immortal words of Princess Leia and Han Solo: “I love you. / I know.”
Still, they don’t regret that long-ago flight to Oregon: “It was a chance to do something that we couldn’t do before,” Altman says. “Until the Supreme Court case, I don’t know that it ever felt that it wasn’t a little bit tenuous. I was disappointed, but I had also braced myself for that possibility.”
Native Portlanders Jeff Fisher and Ed Cunningham lived through proposed Measure 9 in the early 1990s, which aimed to ban any civil rights protections for LGBTQ Oregonians. (It failed, but more than 600,000 Oregonians voted for it.) Fisher, a graphic designer, was a founder and spokesperson for the city’s first gay and lesbian business association; for his trouble, he got death threats.
By 2004, the pair had been together for 14 years and were registered as domestic partners, but couldn’t pass up the chance to be married. They got up early to line up that first day, cold and windy, more people they knew arriving to take their place in line, two by two.
Their neighbors’ daughters stood in as their “ring princesses,” wearing tiaras from Target; the owner of DiPrima Dolci, an Italian bakery in North Portland, made her first-ever wedding cake for them. A conservative friend who was a deacon in her church received special dispensation to attend; some family members made flimsy excuses; others they’d never expected to have their back showed up to cheer them on.
A second wedding followed years later, a sunset ceremony at a California vineyard. But it was the first one, Cunningham said, that meant the most, even when the state changed its mind.
“I had stuffed things down for so long—I was surprised at how it changed our relationship for the good,” he says. “Even though the rug was pulled out from underneath us. It still made us closer.”
Op-ed: Wrong decision, SCOTUS. Foster care system needs gay parents like me – Chicago Tribune
As a lawyer who fights for foster children and their families and who routinely sees the desperate need for loving, committed partners to bring one of the 500,000 children in our foster care system into their homes, I am appalled. As someone who is fostering a 12-year-old alongside my husband, I’m aghast that the Supreme Court made a decision that will undoubtedly lead to more of the exceptionally vulnerable kids in foster care going without stable, loving homes such as the one that my husband and I have created.
Pride in Sports: Local broadcaster discusses life as a gay man in sports – WETM – MyTwinTiers.com
August 12, 2020 – Canton Elementary School – Mrs. Mitstifer- Kindergarten
The Daily Pledge for Tuesday, August 11, 2020
The Daily Pledge for Monday, August 10, 2020
August 7th, 2020 – Canton Elementary – Mrs.Stimson – 4th Grade Class
The Daily Pledge for Thursday, August 6, 2020
The Daily Pledge for Wednesday, August 5th, 2020
The Daily Pledge for Tuesday, August 4, 2020
The Daily Pledge for Monday, August 3, 2020
July 30, 2020 – Center Street Elementary School – Mrs.Brink – 2nd Grade Class
The daily pledge; Ms. Brenzo’s Period 3/4 Health Class; July 28th 2020
The Daily Pledge for Monday, July 27, 2020
Gay country sports bar thriving in Texas – KABC-TV
HOUSTON, TEXAS — A gay sports bar in the heart of Houston’s Montrose neighborhood is tackling stereotypes and greeting everyone with a warm welcome.
Owner George Konar first opened George Country Sports Bar 15 years ago and it has been thriving ever since.
“The concept that I went in with was, I want to be the only gay sports bar around,” he said. “Because all the guys love sports. Just because they’re gay doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a good game. And it works!”
At George, the game is always on and country tunes are always playing. And if you’re craving a steak, swing by on a Thursday for the uber-popular steak night. Chef Michelle Free’s steaks, chops and seafood are legendary.
“She makes the most unbelievable steaks in the world,” said Konar. And she sells out!
But it’s not just great food and game-day action that draws people to George Country Sports Bar – it’s also a place where you come and feel like family.
“Everybody’s welcome,” said George. “Serve all and smile.”
Gay country sports bar thriving in Texas – WLS-TV
HOUSTON, TEXAS — A gay sports bar in the heart of Houston’s Montrose neighborhood is tackling stereotypes and greeting everyone with a warm welcome.
Owner George Konar first opened George Country Sports Bar 15 years ago and it has been thriving ever since.
“The concept that I went in with was, I want to be the only gay sports bar around,” he said. B”ecause all the guys love sports. Just because they’re gay doesn’t mean they cant enjoy a good game. And it works!”
At George, the game is always on and country tunes are always playing. And if you’re craving a steak, swing by on a Thursday for the uber-popular steak night. Chef Michelle Frees steaks, chops and seafood are legendary.
“She makes the most unbelievable steaks in the world,” said Konar. And she sells out!
But its not just great food and game-day action that draws people to George Country Sports Bar – its also a place where you come and feel like family.
“Everybody’s welcome,” said George. “Serve all and smile.”