The top national and world news since last issue you should know

BY CRAIG OGAN

Spacey, not me too

Kevin Spacey legally got to

Third Base in London when a jury found him not guilty of all charges of sexual assault. That makes one dismissal, a dropped case, and now an acquittal in his high-profile “Me Too” persecutions. Spock impersonator, Anthony Rapp, charged Spacey had victimized him when was just 14. The case was dismissed for lack of credibility and outright falsehood. The second, a suit by a 20-year-old waiter in Massachusetts, fell apart before proceeding. Now, an English Jury found him not guilty, even though the judge opined that Spacey act boorishly. The first, ostensive false, charges got him fired from the hit Netflix series, “House of Cards,” and his sinecure at London’s Old Vic theater. He was forced to pay millions to the series’ producers. The only question now is, where does one of the best, most riveting actors in the last 50 years go to get his career back?

LGBTQ gains and losses in various states

IDAHO: A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking Idaho’s transgender participation in sports law. The 2020 law, the first in the nation, barred transgender women and girls from competing against biological females in public school and college athletic competitions. The injunction barring enforcement of the law will stay in place as the suit goes through the courts.

GEORGIA : The Cobb County School Board in Georgia voted to fire a teacher after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity, “My Shadow is Purple,” by Scott Stuart, to her fifth-grade class. The board overruled the panel the board appointed to investigate the incident, which had decided the teacher had violated district policies but said she should not be fired.

MISSISSIPPI : After a hearing where parents shared concerns about the gay-themed graphic novel, “Heartstopper,” the Columbia-Marion County Public Library temporarily removed the graphic novel from bookshelves. The books were originally requested by patrons, but no one spoke in opposition to pulling the books. The books show and tell of a love story between two British teenage boys and their coming out experiences. It has been turned into a sweet, family-friendly Netflix series that is currently trending with subscribers.

NORTH CAROLINA: The North Carolina legislature voted to override the veto of three bills regulating services to transgender teens in the state. One law sets standards for teachers’ use of materials, displays, and activities in classrooms relating to sex and gender issues. Another bans the use of surgical procedures, pharmaceuticals, or hormone treatment as gender or sex therapies for minors. The last law requires students in state tax-supported public schools and higher education to compete in athletic events based on the sex listed on the official birth certificate. Opponents of these laws have promised legal action to stop the laws from going into effect.

Michigan court extends parental rights

The Michigan Supreme Court made a new parental rights law, ruling a woman can seek a custodial relationship of her partner’s biological child who was born before their same-sex relationship ended. Marriage equality was not in effect when the child was born in 2008. Had the couple been able to marry, the partner would have been extended parental rights. Seems logical, but the plaintiff was not an egg or sperm donor, so the rights were denied. The two women “co-parented” after their relationship ended. But in 2017, the birth mother demanded the non-birth parent stop having contact with the child.

Better late than never, PM sorry

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized to gay and lesbian military service members mistreated or discharged under a ban that was in place until 2000. His apology came after the release of a report estimating that “hundreds, if not thousands … were dismissed or suffered because of the ban.” He said the ban was “an appalling failure of the British state.” Great Britain decriminalized homosexuality in 1967 but continued to bar gay and lesbian citizens from the military until the European Court of Human Rights revoked the ban in a 2000 ruling. Some gay and lesbian service members were denied medals, and some lost their pension rights. The report calls for redressing the denials and reinstating pensions with retroactive back pay.

Uganda most anti-gay/ lesbian place on Earth

The African country of Uganda has passed what many call the most anti-gay and lesbian legislation in the world. The prohibition of same-sex relations is a legacy of the colonial era, but Uganda took it a step further. Instead of fines, the “Anti-Homosexuality Act ” imposes a 20-year sentence for “recruitment, promotion and funding” of same-sex “activities” and even bans identifying as gay and lesbian. It makes what the law describes as acts of “aggravated homosexuality” — defined as same-sex relations involving HIV-positive people, children, and other vulnerable groups — punishable by the death penalty. The World Bank has suspended any further loans to Uganda, and U. S. foreign policy calls for immediate review of aid to countries with laws punishing consensual adult homosexual activity. The U.N. Human Rights Commission, which has 13 African Nations sitting on the board, stated, “Making homosexuality punishable by death is an egregious violation of human rights.”

Gay and lesbian vets sue over ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’

A group of gay and lesbian veterans filed a civil rights suit against the Department of Defense for failing to overturn their dishonorable discharges in the wake of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” DADT, a federal law passed in the 1990s and repealed in 2010, specified policies for gay and lesbian members of the U.S. Armed Services. Approximately 35,000 service members were dishonorably discharged under the law. Those veterans lost access to healthcare, education, unemployment, and housing benefits offered through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Defense Department says there is a process the discharged veterans can follow. The suit would put the burden of clearing the records on the DOD. The suit claims the process “broken” and is lengthy and confusing.

Death of director, resurrection of his gay films

Two gay films from the 1970s and 80s, “The Boys in the Band” and “Cruising,” were the work of director William Friedkin, who just died at age 87. The films were groundbreaking but came in for a lot of criticism. “Boys ” was based on the Mart Crowley off-Broadway play. The play and the film were criticized for portraying gay men as dysfunctional and self-loathing. The characters drink excessively, use recreational drugs, and snipe at each other at a birthday party. The play’s Broadway revival and a 2020 Netflix film have rehabilitated “The Boys”, as many came to understand that, just like HETs, gay men drink, use drugs, and snipe at one another at parties. “Cruising” tells the story of a New York City police officer going undercover in the S&M community to stop a serial killer of gay men. Al Pacino starred as the policeman. One critic wrote that Cruising “promises to be the most oppressive, ugly, bigoted look at homosexuality ever presented on the screen.” Critic Roger Ebert wrote that “the plot structure is a mess.” Time has not been as kind to “Cruising,” as people have come to understand that gay men in the S/M milieu are not inclined to kill one another any more than other groups of American males.

Queen Mother in Calif. Hall of Fame

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the induction of José Julio Sarria into the California Hall of Fame. Sarria, who died in 2013, was a gay icon and the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States, seeking a seat on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1961. In 1964 he created a non-profit organization called the Imperial Court System, which is now one of the oldest gay and lesbian philanthropic and the largest drag organizations worldwide. In 2019 he was inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument. He performed as “Empress I the Widow Norton” and was named “Queen Mother” by the Imperial

Court system. The Imperial Rainbow Court of Northern Utah in Ogden and the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire in Salt Lake are part of the group Sarria founded.

‘Barbie’ not gay enough, for some

Despite a pink pallet for cinematography and those tight shirts with rolled-up sleeves showing Ryan Gosling’s biceps, the movie, “Barbie,” is just not gay enough. Said one critic, “Barbie is like a drag performance of heterosexuality.” The marketing was directed to gay audiences, and there were many LGBT people in the cast and crew. Some, sight unseen, said, “This movie is going to be gay canon.” But many are now saying the “Barbie” movie has nothing overtly gay about it. Q