Happy hump day—and Pride Month eve. Get ready for the first week of Pride with the top LGBTQ2S+ stories today.
1. Twitter allows hate speech from Twitter Blue users
2. Students perform LGBTQ2S+ play after high school cancels it
3. LGBTQ2S+ advocates urge corporate leaders to stand up to hate amid Target and Bud Light fiascos
4. Trans artist releases “Pride Demon” shirts
1. Twitter allows hate speech from Twitter Blue users
The Center for Countering Digital Hate has found that Twitter isn’t removing 99 percent of hate speech posted by Twitter Blue subscribers. Researchers at the CCDH flagged tweets with hate speech from 100 Twitter Blue users. Four days later, none of the accounts had been removed, and 99 percent of the tweets were still up.
The tweets flagged included one that said queer activists needed “IRON IN THEIR DIET. Preferably from #AFiringSquad.” The CCDH had previously found that tweets linking LGBTQ2S+ people to grooming rose by 119 percent under Elon Musk’s leadership. Sounds like the perfect recipe for disaster as we head into Pride Month. 🙃
2. Students perform LGBTQ2S+ play after high school cancels it
A group of Fort Wayne high school students performed a play with LGBTQ2S+ themes after their school cancelled it. The play, Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood, drew complaints from parents, with the school cancelling the show amid fears of protests. The students, however, decided to put it on anyway, raising USD $84,000 to book a local outdoor theatre, and receiving the support of thousands who had bought tickets for the show—which was free of hecklers.
3. LGBTQ2S+ advocates urge corporate leaders to stand up to hate amid Target and Bud Light fiascos
After Target and Bud Light walked back some of their Pride Month campaigns in the wake of right-wing backlash, advocates are looking for new strategies to further encourage corporations to continue standing up for queer rights. Debra Porta, the executive director of Pride Northwest, told the Associated Press that the organization had been discussing a possible letter-writing campaign or a boycott directed at Target. Several gay bars in Chicago stopped serving Anheuser-Busch products when the Bud Light parent company failed to defend trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney after the backlash she faced.
“[The company’s response] shows how little Anheuser-Busch cares about the LGBTQ2S+ community, and in particular transgender people, who have been under unrelenting attack in this country,” the gay bar 2Bears Tavern told AP. “Since Anheuser-Busch does not support us, we will not support it.”
4. Trans artist releases “Pride Demon” shirts
Speaking of which: if you’re boycotting Target and other corporations, a trans artist has a shirt for you. Trans artist Veya turned the “Pride Demon” meme—which was created by faer (Veya uses fae/faer pronouns) but rose to prominence after it was posted on Friday by QAnon supporter Lauren Witzke—into shirts. Along with the original rainbow flag, the shirts also come in variations including lesbian, genderqueer, bi and other flags.
🌈Bonus good news (because we need it)🌈
Lesbian singer/actress Hayley Kiyoko’s debut novel Girls Like Girls—based on her iconic music video—is out now! We can’t wait to read it.
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