 Hi, I'm Keith Ghostland. I'm Linda Quinlan. I'm Ann Charles. Welcome to all things LGBTQ. We're taping on Tuesday, May 3rd, and we'd like to acknowledge that we're in Montpelier, Vermont, which is unceded indigenous land. So now let's turn to Keith. And and this week's trivia question that I already said people should know the answer to this. We didn't. No, we didn't. But we'll explain at the end. So May is Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And this was the first out LGBTQ plus person elected to the US Congress. But bonus points if you remember the year. Good luck with that. So events. And you know where I'm going to start. You're discussing and discussing and women's discussion group is still meeting. Book discussion group is meeting. Yep. And you can find it all on rainbow umbrellas in the center of Vermont. Alrighty. So May 14th, Saturday night, my birthday, to celebrate your birthday, get out your dancing shoes because it's the 27th winter is a drag ball at higher ground. And this is sponsored by the House of LeMay. Now, this is a rescheduled event. So if you happen to have tickets from the previous date, they're still going to honor them. But if you didn't get tickets, you still got a chance. Our friends in East Montpelier, Fox Market, they bought the building. And they said they did it to ensure that there will be a community home for years to come. Good. And so to help them celebrate on Thursday, May 19th, they're doing drag karaoke. It kind of scares me, but from 7 to 9 p.m., but also on May 19th, from 1130 to 9 p.m. At El Gatos, at the Burlington locale, it's Pride Eats. 10% of all their proceeds goes to the Pride Center of Vermont. And of note, the Pride Center of Vermont's online auction ends if you're watching this on Saturday night tomorrow. So if there's something you're interested in, get your bid in now. May 21st is Community Planting Day at the Star Farm Community Garden in Burlington. It's not nude gardening. I know there's a day for nude gardening. You promised that you wouldn't share that. National Nude Gardening Day. For our next show, I'll look that up. And we'll see if we tell you locales. No, this was a joint effort between the Pride Center of Vermont and the Burlington Parks Recreation Waterfront. And it's to create ongoing LGBTQ plus community gardening space. So this is something that will continue year after year after year. So that felt kind of nice. The 21st is also Queer Youth Summit. This is outright Vermont's annual event. 10 in the morning to 8.30 at night. It's going to be at the Brattleboro High School. They're going to have a Queer Prom. Yeah, registration is open. So if there are GSA's youth who want to attend, now is the time to sign up. They're also looking for volunteers. People who are willing to go in and help set up, serve lunch, help deconstruct. Just be the handy person at need. Okay, the biggies coming up are Central Vermont Pride. Right. And I'm told there might be an event in the planning that might have to do with poetry and, you know... Other possible activities. And writers and... It could be comedians too. We're looking at comedians. And so a devious person could be working on that. Yep. But on Friday, June 3rd is the free concert of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. And it's at the Episcopal Church here in town 7 o'clock. And I'm told that the Vermont Symphony is going to focus on Queer Composers. It isn't just... It's not that they're just doing this free concert. They're focusing on our communities. I wish they were doing show tunes. Steven Sondheim. It could happen. I haven't heard that it's being, you know, a narrow vision. But also, that's Art Walk. And they're looking at an LGBTQ plus theme as well. And then there is, both on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Shakespeare is doing their Romeo and Juliet Friday and Saturday at the Plainfield Opera House. Sunday afternoon is a matinee at the performance space in Hubbard Park. And then on Saturday, June 4th at 11 a.m. is the opening of Rainbow Bridge, which is the LGBTQ plus community center. Your calendar is getting full already. In Berry and Yesland, they're going to be offering, you know, support groups and speakouts and healthcare services. And they have a truly impressive board of directors to start with and service providers. So this is looking very interesting. But also on that day is the festival on the June 4th, Saturday, is the festival on the Statehouse lawn. You know, starting at noon, carrying on. Toussaint is supposed to be the emcee. Music, hopefully some poetry there as well. Just a chance for us to spend time with each other. And I haven't heard that they're planning any kind of speeches or whatever. This is truly a festival. And then the following weekend on June 11th, this is the Berry Pride Festival. And I still haven't seen a lot of details, but there are organizers in Berry that want to do something in downtown during the day. For visibility. Then Shakespeare is also doing performances there. And they're going to do the Central Vermont Drag Ball at night. Preceding it though is a, come on in, we'll have a drag closet and emoji. We'll be here and give you tips on how to dress up. So, and, and on our next show, I'll speak more about the future. Well, I was going to say all of the other Pride days that are popping up, there are activities planned for Rutland, Bennington, White River Junction, the People's Pride in Burlington, so we'll have more details on that. But I've taken too much time already. No, you, well, you know. You have to keep up. You'll cut me off if need be. Yes. Well, I have a story about Ellen DeGeneres' and her coming out. Rights of nature law clinic faces transphobia allegations. Progressives have been begging conservatives concerned about online censorship to join the fight to break up the biggest tech companies. Now those liberal activists are wondering whether to take on an ally with a separate agenda they hate. The limiting of trans and gay rights. So we'll see if they, what they do with that. Apple is quietly mobilizing. We'll have more on that. Director Caglin says she was opened up to horror by Carrie. We'll have more about that. Remember Carrie? I love that movie. Activists and author Patrice Cullors calls for resistance Incorporations. Oh, well, anyway, what she's, what she wanted to do was make sure that, you know, she's the queer founder of Black Lives Matter movement, and she cautions against getting caught up in the commercialization of pride. Oh, yeah. So she wants to remind queer people this month to join the larger resistance movements across the country. Oh, yeah. There we go. Yeah. And the director Juan Diego Solanas of top down on Netflix documentary about queer serial killer talks about how John Gacy crimes stretched far beyond Chicago killing grounds. Excuse me, he's doing a documentary because the generations isn't familiar with John Gacy. I don't know if that's important or not. I don't know if we were going to do LGBTQ plus history might opt to start someplace else. Well, there's Jeffrey Dahmer too. Moving on. Minnesota lesbian has labor pain, but it doesn't stop her. We have a picture of her. Erin May Quaid is part of the Democratic Farmers Labor Party where she spoke 24 hours before giving birth. She's running for the state Senate in Minnesota. Justice Department is hoping to stop Alabama's trans healthcare bill. The department filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against the ban and asked the court to keep it from becoming law and going into effect. A teacher, Calvin Hillisdell Land in North Dakota with 30 years experience and just before he's about to retire is coming under fire. A bigoted letter distributed to a group of trans high school students went public on social media. He is the German language teacher at Watertown High School, so he's going to get the boot. You see? Yeah, for supporting retirement. Kansas anti-trans bill officially dead. The state House of Representatives has failed to override Governor Laura Kelly's veto. The vote was very close, but fell short of the 84 needed. Good. Biden's nomination of Aina Rees, R-E-Y-E-S, if confirmed would be the first out lesbian and Hispanic judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It's probably Reyes. Maybe. R-E-Y-E-S, yeah. A bisexual student in Brigham Young University student found a way to show her pride at the school's graduation. Julian Orr opened her graduation gown to reveal a rainbow flag stitched inside by her sister, and I have a picture of her. She's happily opening her gown, and there's the rainbow flag. She knows how to accessorize an outfit. I know. Kansas lawmaker objects to huge transgender woman in the bathroom. Representative Cheryl Hellmer falsely claimed that trans people are predators, and denounced gender-affirming surgery. She objects to sharing the bathroom with her transgender colleague. Oh, there we go. Matia Roche is a lesbian super champ on Jeopardy. Another. Roche is 23 and has already gotten onto the list of Jeopardy records as she is 8th on the all-time consecutive games list and 10th on the all-time now on new tournament cash winnings. So she'll probably be up against, what was her name? Amy Schumer. Amy Schneider. Yeah, that'll be interesting. We'll have to watch that. And Jim Baker. You remember, I'll remember Jim Baker. We all discussed Tammy's death and everything on the show, yes. Is claiming that preachers are being killed over, don't say gay bill. I don't know where he's getting his information. Tammy told him. By gay people are killing preachers? Yeah, that's what they're saying. So. I'm in threatened to bomb Miriam Webster offices over the definition of female. David Hansen was charged in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bridgeton Stark, Golda Rocheville said that a lesbian director told her to stay in the closet, but they didn't say who that lesbian director was. Isabella Fierra stars in Crush, a new queer Hulu high school rom-com. And I think we'll move on to Ann, and I have some more stories, but we can get to them after. So, Ann, what do you have for us from around the world? Well, I have a lot of news. And remember, you're supposed to be the optimistic one now. I know I'm ending with an optimistic story. You're pacing yourself. It's a mixed report. Start with a bad news. From North America in Baja, California, the governor rejects a decree that prohibits efforts to correct sexual orientation and gender identity. So there's a conversion therapy outfit. And the legislature voted 20 to 4 to put it out of business. And the governor, instead of publishing it, actually she's the president, she announced that she's going to return it to Congress for revisions. Part of it was that she got it and made suggestions and they ignored her suggestions. This is my personal take on it. But there's a lot of quibbling about consent and so forth. But we'll see, actually, what she suggests. We have to wait and find out the modifications proposed by the governor of Baja, California. And if Congress defends the reform, it approved to ban this group. So there's a little controversy there. In South America, I have mixed news. The Inter-American Court rules in favor of a lesbian religion teacher in Chile. And I have a picture before you now. Her name is Sandra Pavez Pavez. She was fired in 2007. She was a religion teacher. She worked as a Catholic religion teacher and had done it since 1985 at Calejo Municipal Cardinal Antonio Samoriz in San Bernardo, a city just south of Santiago. The Catholic Church in 2007 revoked her certification that the Chilean Ministry of Education required for her to work as a religion teacher. She came out after a rumor began to circulate that she was involved with a woman. The clergy acted under a 1983 decree of the Pinochet, the notorious Pinochet government. And she also refused to undergo psychological and psychiatric therapy that the church offered. Which would have been conversion therapy. Probably. Chile's main LGBTQ rights group appealed the decision. It was rejected. And finally, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling. Both Chilean courts ruled that she had not suffered discrimination. So the Inter-American Court of Human Rights finally granted her appeal. As part of the resolution, the court offered comprehensive reparation measures to include a public act of recognition of international responsibility and guarantees of non-repetition. So this is a big deal, a breakthrough. Chile is also required to amend its policies towards educational institutions. PayPal has $35,000 in material and non-material damages and another $30,000 in costs and expenses. She retired in January without being able to return to the classroom. It was 15 years of struggle after my country denied me the right to practice the profession I studied and loved so much. I regret that the discrimination I suffered at the hands of the church and the Supreme Court was accompanied by the total silence of successive governments in Chile, which never showed solidarity with my cause. I trust that the current government will turn things around and fully comply with the sentence. The court has been clear that the state cannot discriminate, activists say, but of course this woman's career was ruined. So monetary compensation is good and of course the ruling is good, but a lot of damage was done to her personally. Now I have a picture from Uruguay of the first transgender lawmaker, Michelle Suarez, who has just died at 39. She was the first openly transgender lawmaker. In 2014 she won a seat in the Uruguayan Senate. She was an alternative senator without full voting privileges until October 2017. So she had kind of a checkered career. She was the first trans woman to graduate from a Uruguayan university and the first trans lawyer in the country. She wrote Uruguay's same-sex marriage law that took effect in 2013. So that's really her signal accomplishment. She resigned in December 2017 amid allegations that she forged legal documents. In 2019, a court in 2019 sentenced her to two years of house arrest and two years of probation. She was also banned from holding public office and working as a lawyer until 2023. And she had been in the hospital with a cardiac problem when she died. So it's a shame that her career was tarnished by these fraud charges and, you know, any of it. She's a trailblazer. Asia, good and bad news. I have two stories. The good news is South Korea's Supreme Court throws out the conviction of two gay soldiers. And I reported on this at the time. Two gay men had sex consensually off a military base. And the court said that the conviction by a military tribunal stretched the reading of the controversial anti-sotomy law that's applicable to military personnel. Under South Korea's Military Criminal Act, anal intercourse or other indecent acts is punishable with up to two years in prison. These two gay soldiers, it's the first time that a South Korean court has disagreed with the application of the law. In 2016, the couple, a first lieutenant and master sergeant were charged after they were found to have had sex in a private house outside their military bases. The court sentenced the first lieutenant to four months in prison and the master sergeant to three months. Both sentences were suspended. The Supreme Court said that the law could not have been applied in the case as the consensual sex act did not occur at a military facility. The view that sexual activity between people of the same sex as a source of humiliation and disgust for objective and regular people goes against a decent moral sense, the law said. In a press release, the court said the decision was important as the declaration that consensual sexual activity among military service members could no longer be considered as punishable in and of itself. According to Amnesty International, South Korea has in the recent past charged more than 20 gay soldiers under a military sodomy law for consensual sex. This decision therefore is groundbreaking. Do they get thrown out of the service too? No, I don't think so. Homosexuality is legal in South Korea, but there are no laws to protect LGBTQI people from discrimination or hate crimes. South Korea does not recognize same sex marriages and in January 2022, a court dismissed a petition filed by a gay couple for their relationship to be recognized. Still, good news from South Korea. Now, may I go to Saudi Arabia? Is it a long one? It's of interest. Dr. Strange in the multiverse of madness. You may wonder what that is. It's a movie. It's banned in Saudi Arabia due to a gay character. I have that on my list of things here. You want to cover it? No, go ahead. Dr. Strange in the multiverse of madness won't be playing in Saudi Arabia or several other Arab countries due to the inclusion of a gay character. I just have it listed as interesting movies. Well, I can tell you a chapter and verse about the plot, but Saudi Arabian censors did not issue a permit to release the film in the kingdom since the changes they requested were not approved by Disney according to a source. Good for Disney. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character and features a new hero, America Chavez, played by the babysitter's club, Sochil Gomez. Her character in the movie is reportedly gay, true to how she is portrayed in Marvel Comics. The Doctor Strange sequel, which will be released in the US on May 6th, was initially slated for release in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries on May 5th. But in the region movies concerning or containing sex homosexuality and religious issues are routinely cut to comply with censorship rules. In this case, Disney was either unwilling or unable to make the edits requested by the censors. Censorship in Saudi Arabia has recently also kept local audiences from watching Marvel's Eternals after Disney refused to make edits that included the pictures Same Sex Kiss and West Side Story because it features a transgender character. But this is not a problem that's specific to Saudi Arabia. Advanced ticket sales of Doctor Strange sequel are not available in Saudi, Kuwait and Qatar. They're on sale in the United Arab Emirates, indicating that the film will be released there since censorship in the Emirates has recently become less restrictive. Now I have a little paragraph of plot summary, but I guess I'll have to forego it. Keith. And talking about your plot summaries. On our next show, I will be talking about what our Vermont legislature did and did not do, because as was announced within the last 24 hours, they will not be adjourning this week. They're hoping to adjourn next week. And I'll also be talking about some of the recent US Supreme Court decisions and waiting may be advantageous because there are several other cases for whom arguments have already been presented and they're waiting for the ruling. So we may have more to talk about. But looking at fun stuff because we need some fun stuff. The Vermont Book Awards are back. And we want to acknowledge that the person who was granted the award for creative nonfiction was Allison Bechdel. Oh, the secret to superhuman strength. And there was a festival at the Vermont College for Fine Arts presenting the award. It's election year. Brenda Churchill, I announced on our last show had formally announced for the Franklin six seat. Well, Brenda's announcement came on the same day that we learned of Fern Feathers killing. So there will be another more formal announcement forthcoming. However, there is a website of people are interested in the candidacy. Didn't they have some function? No, no, no, it's coming up. It's going to be at one of the town halls up in her district. Yeah, but I saw a picture of Brenda at the Rusty. What is that place on something? Nail. Nails in Montpelier? Yeah. No, that was a party fundraiser. It wasn't specifically for Brenda. But Brenda is not the only out candidate that's announced. Wichee R2 has announced that he is running for the Wyndham County Senate seat being vacated by Becca Ballant. Who? Wichee R2. Wichee R2 and his husband are organic farmers committed to LGBTQ plus BIPOC community. People may know Wichee from the summit that out in the open has sponsored. They have been very active in the community in the Brattleboro area. Wichee is the person who did all of the work on the LGBTQ plus healthcare initiatives at Brattleboro Hospital and Grace Cottage Hospital that got the attention and recognition from the Human Rights Campaign as one of the best in the country. Great. So that's good news, I guess. Yeah, oh no, that's excellent news. But going on from that, it's Haydn in our backyard. Oh yeah. At the Pride Center in Burlington, there was an act of vandalism where during the night someone approached the building and through two concrete projectiles through the door and shattered it. And the community around them has rallied for them. And there has already been an anonymous donor who has said, I'm giving you the money to repair the door. You shouldn't have to endure this. And this was the statement from Mike Bensel, the executive director. I just want to recognize that the community, the LGBTQ plus is resilient and we are strong and our response to this type of violence is to respond with love and beauty. And there were various entities who have done fundraising special efforts to support the Pride Center. One is the Fox Market in East Montpellier. The other is the Poppy Cafe and Market, which is on Oak Street in Burlington, and the Red Wagon plants in Heinsberg. And I mentioned them because even though their immediate fundraising may have ended, these are businesses that were supportive. We should in turn support them. But Burlington wasn't alone. Northern Vermont University in Lindenville. Last Friday, they put up an inclusion flag in front of their LGBTQ plus organization. And over the weekend, the flagpole was broken, vandalized, and the flag was stolen. And this was the response from Alexa Morrigan, who is their coordinator for their inclusion club. It's everywhere. My response to the school is that we're not going away. And my response to the state is, we're not going away. We're here to stay. So, get ready. May I say something? I read a coverage of all of the stuff in Vice News, and they attributed this uptick in Vermont to Laura Ingraham's about the gender workshop. At the high school. Laura Ingraham took the online training and edited it and threw it out on a national. And then the chair of the GOP here in Vermont used it for their own fundraising efforts. It exceeded what he could control. He didn't know how to pull it back. And I'm going to look really quickly in New Hampshire. And this is a piece of legislation that people have missed. House Bill 1431. This is parental rights. And get ready to the language. And it is about preserving a parent's rights. And the way it's drafted is that they find it is the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing education and care of their minor children. So that's like, okay, so now you can be in books because it's parental, right? Well, no, I want you to listen to the language. No, no, no, no, no. If you were a parent, oh, you're saying that I should have something to say about my child. Well, of course I'm going to support it. So the language is broad enough that it's like, oh, well, of course. But then it starts talking about a school or the state cannot do anything to infringe upon your rights. And they start putting in modifying language and I have a copy of the actual bill. And this is where it really started getting rocky is if my child goes in and says something to the faculty that is an indicator of a change in mental health or that they are to notify the parents immediately. So I go into school and reveal sexual orientation or gender identity to who I think is the support of faculty. They in turn have to call my parent. They don't have the right to hold it confidential. And that's where it's the back door. Let's trick people into voting for this. And this is the model that Florida's don't say gay bill was modeled after. So getting ready because there are 12 other states actively considering this. And this just passed in New Hampshire. It passed in the House on a 181 to 157 vote. It passed in the Senate on a 13 to 11 vote. Every sponsor was a Republican. Everyone who voted in favor of the bill was a Republican. Everyone who voted against it was a Democrat with the exception of one Republican. So and then just to men who have sex with men out there. Well no the Centers for Disease Control is saying that there is a major outbreak. Not just in Florida. Well in and the reason I'm saying it here is this is vacation time. It was spring break. We had people in Florida. This is about getting vaccinated for meningitis for menococcal meningitis. Which can have devastating impact. So if you are a man who has sex with men who has either vacationed recently in Florida. Or it's going you are have close contact with someone who has be looking for symptoms of fever, headaches, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting. And get health care immediately if you are thinking of vacationing in Florida in the near future. Please get vaccinated before you go. Okay. And they have no idea why that kind of started in Florida. Oh Florida's I mean anytime there are large groups of people particularly students on spring break. I mean that's a prime opportunity. Opportunity. Okay well we have Ellen Gigenaris who believe it or not 25 years ago she came out on her sitcom called Ellen remember that. It was very groundbreaking. She was Ellen Morgan. She won the toaster oven. And yes. And when she came out people warned her of course that she would ruin her career. She said that she didn't really have a job or much to do for three years after that. But all she has to say is look at me now. So. And rights of nature law clinic faces transphobia allegations. The law clinic spearheaded campaigns to establish legal rights for lakes and rivers. Last summer seven or 15 staffers and contract attorneys left saying that the organization resisted efforts to make the workplace more inclusive including LGBTQ people. Hmm. So I guess you can be trying to. Help you. Save trees but. Apple is quietly mobilizing its vast resources to lobby against anti LGBTQ legislature across the country. Oh good because we have all these Apple products. And unusual push by one of the world's most valuable companies into a consequential political debate. The company CEO Tim Cook is the nation's one of the nation's most gay executives has gay. He's gay. Yes. Executive had deployed its lobbyists to oppose legislation that limits protections for trans and gay people and their families. Good. Good news. We have a good product. Director Katelyn says she was opened up to horror by Kerry, which was the movie if you remember from Stephen King novel. The body horror in the shower. The insecurity and rage. This is what she said. I felt so connected to her. I never forgot the palpitations in my chest. It was an emotional catharsis. That's when I realized that horror could be a healthy way to face my darkness. She began doing films after the 1916 election in October. 1916. No. 2016. Sorry. Okay. Election in October. LGBTQ horror fans. Fans include Sovam, Alone With You, Bad Girls, and Brain Dead at the Cinema Salon this year. There will be virtual programs streaming. The festival is in the first week of October. So there's that. I'm going to use my parental rights on what she's viewing. I can't wait. She'll be watching them alone. University of South Carolina settles lawsuit involving 80 men who accused a doctor of sexual misconduct. Former students, many gay accused Dr. Dennis Kelly of misconduct. Terms of the central settlement that they made have not been disclosed. Oh, I know. Activists file a complaint in Florida over the Bible being to walk. Chas Sanchez is using Florida GOP Stop Woke Act to prove the Bible's inclusion of topics like racism, sexism, and homophobia makes it inappropriate for the classroom. And then there's one of the movies after the, you know, we're talking about, um, so there's 17 films and TV shows which begin in May. I picked a few that I liked, but if you, you can find them online. And some of them are the staircase based on a true story about the death of Kathleen Peterson, Star Trek Strange New Worlds. These are LGBT films? Yes. Yes, that's why I would be reporting them. Oh, okay. Or they've got characters that would be of interest to us. Yes. I see. Anna's in love. A woman falls in love with her lover's partner. That should be pretty interesting. Lover is a man in, you know, anyway. And Dr. Strange. Oh. The Marvel gets gayer. Uh-huh. So there. I'd love to just read the plot summary of that. Well, you know. Well, Spider-Man. Kansas anti-transbill officially did. So we have that. Okay. So, Ian, I think we can move on to you now. I thought you'd be particularly interested. I am particularly interested. In this Spider-Man connection. I am. I'm going to watch it. All right. Uh, let's go to bad news from Africa. A non-binary lesbian was reportedly raped and killed by a group of men. I have a picture before you now. Sheila, uh, Tom, uh, Hiambo, LaMumba, 25. She was, they were found in their home by colleagues after they didn't show up for work. LGBTQ rights in Kenya, groups in Kenya are demanding justice over the killing of this non-binary lesbian. We're activists have said they were found murdered in their home after being attacked and raped by a group of men. The killing happened, uh, about three hours north of the country's capital. According to an autopsy report, a group of men broke into her house and raped them before killing them. Their body was discovered, um, days after their death by colleagues, uh, at the resort where they worked after they failed to show up for a couple of days. On social media, many have used, um, a hashtag to call for authorities to appropriately investigate the death and find those responsible. Um, a memorial will occur on, um, April 30th. It bears mentioning that unfortunately these are not isolated incidences and are part of a pattern of attacks and violence against LGBTQ plus persons in the country. Um, the group wrote on Twitter offering resources, uh, this is a rights group, to queer Kenyans. Last year, um, these, these hashtags were trending after the murders of a trans woman and activist Erika Chandra and LGBTQ plus activist, Hoash Masoti, the BBC reports. Same sex relations are still illegal in Kenya and LGBTQ plus individuals face discrimination and social stigma. Kenyans High Court ruled in 2019 against overturning a law banning gay sex. It carries a punishment of up to 14 years in prison if violated. While the law specific to same sex sexual relations between men, Kenyan activists still say it affects lesbians by trans and non-binary people and creates an environment where anti-LGBTQ plus attitudes thrive. So that's terrible news. Um, let's go to Russia. No. We're meta. No, we're not going to Russia. Yeah. Um, well, I have to say there are two stories from Russia. Um, neither of them particularly affirming. Uh, Russia finds meta, which is, uh, formerly Facebook platform over quote LGBTQ plus propaganda. The Russian court on Tuesday find meta platforms, four million rubles for failing to delete posts that contain what it calls LGBTQ plus propaganda in 2013. Uh, a 2013 Russian law, decried by Western countries as state enforced bigotry bans the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors. Meta did not immediately respond. In further acts of skelduggery, a Russian court has dissolved an LGBTQ rights group. It's called Sphere. I've mentioned it before on the show. It provided legal psychological assistance across the country. Last week, a district court in St. Petersburg ordered that the charitable foundation be liquidated. In February, the Russian justice ministry filed a lawsuit trying to liquidate it. More on. Right. Uh, it argued that the group activities were in contrary to traditional values. On April 21st, a judge ruled in favor of the ministry's argument that it ran country to contrary to the Russian state policy to preserve, expand and develop the country's human capital. The ministry also accused it of spreading LGBTQ views and working with people under the age of 18. And to act in violation of the country's gay propaganda law. This group was founded in 2011 by Russian LGBTQ rights activist Igor Kuchetov. And in 2016, authorities designated the Sphere Foundation a foreign agent and from there on a decline occurred. Upon learning of the ruling, the founder said, no, I am not crying or crying or crying. I'm proud of the work done by the foundation in 11 years. It should be clear that the ministry and the court made this decision and it is not on legal but on an ideological basis. No Russian law prohibits the activity of organizations that do not correspond with any values. There is simply no such basis in the law for liquidation of NGOs. In this sense, the decision of the court is iconic. Mandatory state ideology has returned and is now official. And then he added the work continues, their hands are dirty but too short to ban us. So Sphere released a longer statement and in more dirty deeds, the Russian ministry canceled the registration of Human Rights Watch along with Amnesty International and 13 other offices of foreign non-governmental organizations and foundations. Human Rights Watch had maintained an office in Russia for 30 years. The action was announced just days after the appeals court upheld the liquidation of another Russian human rights giant memorial. Human Rights Watch has been working on in Russia since the Soviet era and we will continue to do so, the executive director said. This new iron curtain will not stop our ongoing efforts to defend the rights of all Russians and to protect civilians in Ukraine. So they're going to fight despite this awful crackdown. Makes news from Hungary, which is kind of trying to borrow the playbook from Russia. Hungarian groups, however, are fighting the fines that groups have received for supporting LGBTQ rights. I mentioned the election and how voters were counseled to sabotage the ballot. And last week Hungary's Supreme Court rejected, this is really mixed news though, an attempt to levy punitive fines on 16 civil society organizations for opposing the referendum. Nevertheless, the court upheld fines against two groups setting a dangerous precedent for curtailing civil society advocacy. The National Election Committee subsequently fined the groups for encouraging invalid votes, arguing that they abused the electoral process. Hungary's Supreme Court, the Curia, rejected that argument in three of the five cases, finding that the voters had the right to cast an invalid vote and that organizations had not limited voters autonomy to make their choice. In two other cases, however, another curia council upheld the fines against Hatter, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights group, and Amnesty International Hungary. So they're going after Amnesty International. Both groups have said they plan to appeal the decision to Hungary's constitutional court and I hope they succeed. Do you have a clip because we're getting close to the end of your time? Well, I have a couple stories. Well, I don't know that we have time for a couple more stories. Well, let's look at a picture now of Aidan Moffat and Michael Snee on the left. They are two gay men who were murdered in Ireland, pillars of the community. They weren't activists and they were murdered by Yusef Pallani, a 22-year-old man from Sligowurch is where this all occurred. He was charged with the murders of both men and was remanded to custody and it's very creepy because it's related to Grinder. And this guy had a list and these two were the first two people on it. Not only were they murdered, they were mutilated. So now let me go to my clip. Traveling through generations. Petit Maman. Petit Maman by lesbian director Salim Shama begins a nursing home with a scene bringing together three generations. Elderly women, mothers and their daughters. Nellie goes from room to room reading elderly women. Her mother Marion is seeing her own mother in the final days of her life. After the death of Nellie's grandmother, her family temporarily relocates to her house in order to empty it out. While her mother and father are busy, Nellie plays in the woods. She comes across another young girl building a tree fort. This girl turns out to be Marion, back when she was the same age as Nellie, Marion as Nellie's mother. The two bond immediately but the time in which they can spend together is limited. I have another paragraph I'd love to show you about. Well, look, we only have five minutes left. Alright, let's look at a clip of Petit Maman. I've never seen you before. I didn't tell you how I liked you. Nellie, I'm with my grandmother. She liked me last week. I like to make some chocolate and eat them. I found the place of Nellie's mother. We never talked when you were children. You're exaggerating, you always tell me. Yes, but it's just a little story. I have a secret. I'm your child. You come from the future. I agree with you on why I'm in Nellie. When? I don't even know when to invite her. It's just a little secret. I want to see that. What is it on? Okay, where can you see it? Well, it's premiering in French with English subtitles. It opens on April 22nd at Angelica Film Center and Film at Lincoln Center. Sounds good. Yeah, so it'll appear in general circulation pretty soon. Eventually. One more last story. It's involving a picture. This is Stephen Carter and Eric Bourne. They're the first same-sex marriage in UK's Antarctic territory. Yes. They got married on board the ship RRS or David Attenborough. It's the first same-sex wedding to take place on British Antarctic territory. And they're very excited. The captain decided 30 crew members attended a big celebration in Spain where one of them lives at a later date. Okay, but what was truly newsworthy about this is when this marriage occurred and Antarctica, we now have had a same-sex marriage in every country. A same-sex marriage in every continent in the world. Well, three cheers. Yay! That's positive. Yeah, it's very positive. Thank you. My great pleasure. Keith. So, I said you should know the answer to this. This was the first openly LGBTQ plus Asian Pacific Islander elected to the Congress. And I say that because every maze since this show has been on air, the answer has been Mark Takano, who is from California's 41st Congressional District. He is not only the first, he is the only openly LGBTQ plus Asian Pacific Islander elected to the U.S. Congress. And a piece of Mark's personal history is he is of Japanese descent and his family was interned during World War II in the desert for being Japanese. So, in addition to his identity as part of the LGBTQ plus community, he brings that personal family history with him. And I just wanted to say in the last few minutes that we have here is the abortion and the letter that was leaked that we really need to be watching this because if this goes over, lots of other things can go over too like gay marriage and other things. So we really need to be paying attention. And so now it's more important than ever to resist.