It’s the middle of the week, and we have the top queer and trans stories for you. Read on for more about Twitter removing protections for trans people, an arrest made in connection to killings at a Manhattan gay bar, North Carolina Republicans attacking drag shows and trans girls in sports, Florida’s targeting of queer healthcare and Disney’s new, upcoming Pride event.
1. Disney plans LGBTQ2S+ event amid Florida’s queerphobic actions
2. Twitter removes protections for trans people
3. Man arrested for robberies and killings at Manhattan gay bar
4. North Carolina Republicans attack drag shows and trans athletes
5. Florida targets LGBTQ2S+ clinics
1. Disney plans LGBTQ2S+ event amid Florida’s queerphobic actions
Speaking of Florida: Disney is planning a new LGBTQ2S+ event, amidst an escalating battle with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Not bad for a company that used to ban “homosexual fast dancing”!)
“The first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite is coming to @Disneyland during Pride Month in June! This separately ticketed event celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community & allies will have themed entertainment, Disney characters, specialty menu items & more,” the company tweeted Monday.
Tensions between the corporate giant and Gov. DeSantis began last year, when Disney CEO Bob Chapek openly opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill after pressure from employees. DeSantis threatened to retaliate by getting rid of Disney’s special tax privileges. The company tweeted about the event the same day DeSantis said that he would further retaliate by building a state prison near Disney World.
2. Twitter removes protections for trans people
Amidst a flurry of controversial actions from new Twitter head Elon Musk, the site has quietly changed its “hateful conduct policy,” eliminating protections for trans people that penalized deadnaming and misgendering. The policy against these anti-trans acts had first been instituted in 2018 and was removed on April 8.
According to Forbes, the policy used to read: “We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.” The last sentence was removed over a week ago.
In the wake of the purported censorship of some LGBTQ2S+-related terms earlier this month, the policy change is just the latest in an ongoing string of anti-LGBTQ2S+ moves from Musk’s website.
“Twitter’s decision to covertly roll back its longtime policy is the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike,” GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This decision to roll back LGBTQ2S+ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterest and Meta, which all maintain similar policies to protect their transgender users at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real world discrimination and violence.”
3. Man arrested for robberies and killings at Manhattan gay bar
A man has been arrested for a series of robberies and killings at Manhattan gay bars that have terrified the city’s LGBTQ2S+ community.
Thirty-five-year-old Jayqwan Hamilton was arrested Monday and charged with grand larceny, murder and other crimes in connection to the killings of Julio Ramirez and John Umberger. Ramirez and Umberger had been drugged, robbed and found dead of overdoses. Police described Hamilton as a “gang leader” and said the crimes were financially motivated.
“The source of this crime was clearly rooted in greed and total disregard for the victims,” said Mayor Eric Adams at a news conference on Tuesday. “We want to send a message to the LGBTQ2S+ community: we understand the trauma you experienced during this time.”
Hamilton’s arrest comes after four other men—Jacob Barroso, Robert DeMaio, Andre Butts and Shane Hoskins—had been charged in connection with the crimes.
4. North Carolina Republicans attack drag shows and trans athletes
On Tuesday, North Carolina Republicans moved to criminalize drag and bar trans girls from sports. House Bill 637, which was proposed in North Carolina’s House of Representatives, would lump drag shows in with adult entertainers in state law. If enacted, this would mean that anyone performing drag in public could be charged with a misdemeanour on their first offence—and a felony on any subsequent ones.
That same day, a state senate committee pushed a bill to ban trans girls from playing middle school and high school sports. Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a Republican sponsor of the bill, said that the number of 15 trans girls who are currently playing sports in the state is “too high.”
“Our community is under attack, and we must stand united against the slate of hate that has been proposed in the North Carolina General Assembly,” the Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. “In this difficult time, we must protect our people and be in the community. Trans youth, especially Black and brown trans youth, are facing an onslaught of possible laws targeted at banning their rights to education, sports and healthcare in North Carolina.”
5. Florida targets LGBTQ2S+ clinics
Gender-affirming medical practitioners are fearing that Florida’s onslaught of anti-trans bills, if passed, could decimate LGBTQ2S+ clinics. Joey Knoll, the founder of queer SPEKTRUM Health, told VICE that the bills could leave trans Floridians without care.
“Things are devolving really quickly,” Knoll said. “There is going to be a massive health crisis as all these bans go into effect.… Organizations like mine could collapse completely.”
The bills passing through Florida’s legislature are some of the most virulently anti-trans in the country. One disincentivizes businesses from covering gender-affirming care on their plans; another would prohibit insurance providers, even private ones, from covering it. Senate Bill 254 would allow the state to remove trans children from affirming care and revoke the healthcare licences from healthcare workers who provide gender-affirming care.
“We’ve always done everything by the book as much as we can, and for this to be happening it really puts us in a difficult position,” Svetlana Dunn, SPEKTRUM’s COO, said. “Overall, the sense is that it’s just absolute fear of total annihilation of our community right now.”
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