We made it to Friday! As the week winds down, Xtra’s rounded up the five biggest stories in this week’s LGBTQ2S+ news. We’ve got social media giants failing GLAAD’s 2023 Social Media Safety Index, updates in the saga of the 9-year-old facing transphobic harassment at a Kelowna track meet, Dodgers Pride night, the Club Q shooting suspect expected to take a plea deal, and women in the U.K. finally being allowed to historic convictions for gay sex thrown out.
1. All five social media giants receive failing scores on GLAAD’s latest Social Media Safety Index—but most showed improvements from last year
2. Nine-year-old harassed at Kelowna track meet speaks out
3. The now-renowned Dodgers Pride Night is tonight—and a Los Angeles Archbishop is already praying for the city
4. Shooting suspect in Club Q tragedy is expected to take a plea deal
5. Women in the United Kingdom will now be able to have historic convictions for gay sex thrown out
1. All five social media giants receive failing scores on GLAAD’s latest Social Media Safety Index—but most showed improvements from last year
GLAAD has announced its 2023 Social Media Safety Index (SMSI), which provides scores to the five major social media giants based on “LGBTQ safety, privacy, and expression.” Of the five platforms, which are Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, none scored above 63 percent.
However, all showed improvements from last year’s index—apart from Twitter, which fell by 12 points to 33 percent, making it the least safe social media platform for queer users (shocker).
The report makes recommendations for the social media giants to improve their policies, including improving moderation of content and comments, focus of algorithm designs, and less violation of users’ data privacy. Some of the report’s key findings included that anti-LGBTQ2S+ rhetoric on social media translates to real world harm, and that anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate speech and disinformation online is an “alarming public health and safety issue.”
“I want to be clear: despite record-high support for LGBTQ equality, we currently live in an unsafe America for LGBTQ people, especially for transgender people,” GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in the report’s opening remarks.
Ellis described the SMSI as the “industry’s first standard for tackling online anti-LGBTQ hate and intolerance and increasing safety for LGBTQ social media users.”
2. Nine-year-old harassed at Kelowna track meet speaks out
The nine-year-old girl who was accused of being trans at Kelowna track meet, leaving her “inconsolably crying” earlier this week, has spoken out via a letter published in the Vancouver Sun.
“My first two throws weren’t that good because I was crying and hurt because of what he said. I think I could have gotten a ribbon if this had not happened,” the girl writes. (The girl, who has not been named for privacy reasons, was competing in the fourth-grade shot-put finals.)
“When this happened, I was kind of feeling devastated and sad because some people have mistaken me for a boy before because of my short hair, which I cut in January, but no one has taken it as far as he did,” she continues. “What made me do a better last throw was that there were lots of bystanders supporting me and it was making me feel more confident and safer.”
3. The controversial Dodgers Pride Night is tonight—and a Los Angeles Archbishop is already praying for the city
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been facing controversy for weeks in the lead up to their 10th annual Pride Night, happening this evening. The team had initially invited protest and performance group The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to the evening to accept a Community Hero Award, but after backlash from conservative groups, they decided to withdraw the invitation. But then they immediately faced even more backlash from queer fans and allies, resulting in them ultimately re-inviting the group to this evening’s event.
There are expected to be protests outside the stadium at the event Friday evening. Even Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez has dedicated his service to “healing the city” after the Dodgers invited a group that “intentionally denigrates and profanes the Christian faith.” (…Thanks, I guess?)
Yesterday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said to reporters that the league had advised teams not to wear Pride-themed uniforms.
“We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases, that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players,” he said, via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.
4. Shooting suspect in Club Q tragedy is expected to take a plea deal
The suspect in the mass shooting at Club Q nightclub in Colorado is expected to strike a plea deal, meaning that they would receive, at a minimum, a life sentence.
The attack, which killed five and wounded more than 20, happened on the night of November 19 last year. Two patrons took measures to stop the suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich.
Survivors and victims’ families have said that the expected plea deal is a “calculated attempt to avoid the federal death penalty.”
“My fear is that if this takes years, that prevents the processing and moving on and finding peace beyond this case,” said Michael Anderson, the only Club Q bartender to survive the attack. “I would love this wrapped up as quickly as possible under the guarantee that justice is served.”
The 23-year old suspect’s defence attorneys have stated that at the time of the shooting, Aldrich was “drugged up on cocaine and medication.” They will appear in court later this month, where they are facing over 300 criminal charges.
5. Women in the United Kingdom will now be able to have historic convictions for gay sex thrown out
Women in the United Kingdom are now able to apply for historic convictions for gay sex to be overturned, something previously only possible for men. The change comes with expansion of the government’s Disregards and Pardons scheme.
“The appalling criminalisation of homosexuality is a shameful and yet not so distant part of our history,” Minister for Safeguarding Sarah Dines said in a government statement. “Although they can never be undone, the Disregards and Pardons scheme has gone some way to right the wrongs of the past.”
Men have been able to apply to have convictions or cautions for consensual sex with another man disregarded since 2012, but the expansion of the scheme will now allow women to apply for convictions to be overturned for the first time. Changes will also allow for more veterans to have convictions for gay sex erased from their records.
“The treatment of LGBT Armed Forces personnel and veterans prior to 2000 was wholly unacceptable, and today’s announcement is a clear demonstration of progress in righting these wrongs,” said Johnny Mercer, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, in the government statement.
🌈Bonus good news (because we need it)🌈
Exactly what we want to see from Parliament: less transphobia, more Kylie Minogue! Shoutout to MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle for invoking “Padam Padam” in the House of Commons.
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