 Hi, I'm Linda Quinlan. I'm Keith Ghostland. And I'm Ann Charles. Welcome to All Things LGBTQ, where we discuss the news, the LGBTQ news of the day. As you know, we're taping in Montpelier, Vermont, which we acknowledge is unceded indigenous land. So let's turn to some news of the hour with Linda. And the national news. Oh, hi, there's my camera. Well, there was a mural painted by a high school student, which came under fire when Parish Alleged here was promoting LGBTQ imagery and witchcraft. Earlier this year, a Grant Michigan High School sophomore won a contest to brighten up the middle school. And the student received approval to paint images of smiling children, and as well as the messages, stay healthy. In the painting, there are three children. A boy is seen in a light blue pink and white t-shirt, the colors of the transgender flag. A girl with pink, royal blue and purple, the colors of the bisexual flag. And a second girl is in a rainbow pride colors. And a superintendent, Brett Zuver, was a contest judge. He did not respond to an email asking if he understood the meaning of the colors when the student's design was chosen as the winner of the contest. The final mural included some features that were not part of the agreement, including a demon face inspired by a popular video game called Genshin Impact. And a hamsa hand, or hamsa hand, also known as the hand of Fatima, or hand of Mary. The palm shaped design has been a symbol for good luck or protection for centuries in many cultures, including Latin America. At the school board meeting on October 10th, parents accused the student artist of promoting witchcraft by indicating the hamsa hand, as well as the video game character that bears the likeness of a demon. Parents also objected to the use of LGBTQ colors. The student said, I put my art up there to make people feel welcome. The student artist said, her voice breaking in footage captured at the meeting by local news. One man at the meeting called the mural hate material. Added another adult at the meeting, I feel like she did a really good job finding excuses to defend the things she put on this mural. None of us are that stupid. And it came to two children grant school, came to the defense of the student artist. One woman said, I'm a conservative, right wing, gun loving American. And I've never seen more bigoted people in my entire life. Q, the meeting turned into a hate fest. Usually there are 10 people at these meetings. 50 showed up. It wasn't even about the mural, one mother told today. People were talking about how we need to pray the gay away. So. Well, can I just add? We watched the reportage of this on another show. And one of the commentators made kind of a mean joke, which I will share. He said his favorite line in the story is when one of these people objecting to the mural said none of us is that stupid. He was saying. There you go. Not my joke. And in Columbia, Missouri, Secretary of State Jane Ascroft, a top Republican prospect for Missouri Governor, wants to block public funding for library books that might appeal to the purient or sexual interests of minors. It does not include a more detailed definition or include examples of which specific books would be restricted or appealing sexually to children or teenagers. The library proposal is what's known as an administrative rule, which would have the same effect as a law if enacted. When the state dollars are involved, we want to bring back local control and parental involvement in determining what children are exposed to, as Ascroft said. Foremost, we want to protect our children. The Missouri proposal would require state-funded libraries to adopt policies on the age appropriateness of literature, which is already common at both schools and public libraries in the state. And under the rule, anyone could challenge the access to books. So. And in different kind of news, the federal jury in Kevin Spacey's sexual abuse trial found that the Oscar-winning actor is not liable for battery against Star Trek Discovery star Anthony Rapp. The jury of five men and six women deliberated for just under 90 minutes Thursday afternoon. Rapp appeared stoic as the verdict was read, and his lawyers self-dejected as they left the courtroom in downtown Manhattan. Spacey dropped his head after the verdict was announced and then stood up to hug his lawyers. I'm very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations, he said, outside the courtroom. Spacey flanked by bodyguards, did not say anything outside before hopping into his black SUV and driving off. Rapp said he was deeply grateful for the opportunity to have his case heard before a jury. And I thank the members of the jury for their service. And another lovely story, and then I will pass on to Keith. Within 72 hours of acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk tweeted at baseless conspiracy theory about Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, who suffered severe injuries during a violent attack on Friday, the wealthiest man in the world took to his social media platform on Sunday wanting to spread disinformation about the 82-year-old who was beaten in the head by a hammer by an intruder. In response to the tweet Hillary Clinton sent out about how David DuPage, the subject in the attack on Paul Pelosi, spread far-right conspiracy theories, Musk responded, there's a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye and included a link to a false article that claimed Paul Pelosi and a male sex worker had been in a drunken quarrel. Musta leave it the tweet after hours of criticism, but not before it was liked and retweeted tens of thousands of times. I have another editorial comment, if I may. I dropped my Twitter soon. She's over. I never had one. I want you to hold on to the whole social media genre and the lack of oversight and how do you verify that what is being posted is indeed accurate. I think, as I said on our last show, the common belief is, well, if it's been tweeted three times, then it must be true. And just as another editorial before you go on, I was reading that TikTok is even worse, that it really addicts children at very young ages. And so for the rest of their lives, they will be following them, knowing what their likes and dislikes are, and playing on those. So it's very scary. Well, that was the testimony before our Congress with the person who is the whistleblower, saying there is an algorithm. We know what the algorithm is. We know how social media, and in that case, it was Facebook, is using it to manipulate their audience. But before I run out of time, November 8 is election day. So if you are watching this honor before November 8, have you voted? If you haven't, there is still time. You can take the mail-in ballot you got, take it down, and give it to the town clerk. Thank you, thank you, thank you. If you cannot find it, you can go down and say, I do not have my ballot. They will have you sign the certification and allow you to vote in public. And the reason I'm stressing it is, looking at the commentary recently, there are some races that are being watched, and had been mentioned on our previous show. Brenda's house race for Franklin County is one that they're watching very closely. And Brenda has gained real momentum. The other one that is being watched, and it's surprising and in a sense not, is Brenda Siegel and her gubernatorial campaign. And the comment is, she's still very much the long shot, but her campaign has made Vermonters look differently at those six years of vetoes and the impact of that inaction. I hope she makes a good showing. So the trivia question, nobody got it. Ian got it right away, what do you mean? We both got it immediately. Because Zach told you. Paula Poundstone, Tim Gunn, Janine Garofalo. OK, that's a really unlikely trio. What is it that they have in common? So looking at events, Rainbow Umbrella, you've got the Women's Discussion Group, and you have the Book Discussion Group. And we have a poetry reading, but of course, this will air after the reading on Friday. But the last reading was a great success. Exactly. Did you agree? Absolutely. And eventually, they will be posted on Orca's site, but not right now. Pride Hikes, because you didn't want to do the bicycle rally. This is on Sunday, November 12th from 1 to 3. It's being sponsored by the Audubon's Vermont Pride Center outright and the Shelburne Farms. And it is going to be a walk through the 1,400 acre working farm on the unceded traditional and contemporary homelands of the Winneckee Band of the Ibenikee. There's over 10 miles of walking trails. You can sort of pick what you want to do. I'm so sorry. I'm busy that day. I'm just putting it out there because it's something different than what we usually are promoting. What I want to encourage people to do, though, is also to go on Sage Main's site. And the second Friday of each month, they do what's called the Speakers Series. And it's geared toward elders. And this month on November 11th, they're talking about their Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program. And this is an effort to go out and actively doing training with people working in gerontology about how to provide care and meet the needs of the LGBTQ plus elders. It might be something we'd want to take a look at. And how can we replicate it here? This is not an event, but it leapt out at me when I saw it. And this was on Front Porch Farm. We have an LGBTQ plus teenager who is in foster care in central Vermont that's looking for a nurturing, accepting, and loving forever home. Well, that's like climbing Kilimanjaro with a 90-pound pack on your back. But it only takes one affirming person or family to say yes. So they are actively reaching out to us saying, can you help? And Zach has the contact information to put up for how you could be in touch, get more information, find out the process that would be involved. And let's support our youth. Well, let me add that we're taping on Tuesday, November 1st. A little clarifying note from my introduction. I have good news and bad news from North America. Ta-da-da-da. Finally, the Mexican state as a whole has achieved marriage equality. Go get married, Mexico. From the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Cortez to the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean Sea, from the US border to the Guatemala border to the Belize border. Mexico's last state, Tarno La Paz, borders Texas and passed marriage equality today becoming the final state to achieve marriage equality. The bill passed with one extension after the meeting was moved to a smaller room because so many people were loudly singing and loudly screaming and there was so much revelry and loud opposition. All 31 states in the federal capital of Mexico City now have marriage equality. It took 12 years. Good for Mexico. Mexico City passed marriage equality in late 2009 and the law took effect in Mexico in 2010. The state of Coahuila, which borders Texas, was next in 2014. There's still one thing to clean up, however. Five states got marriage equality not by passing a law but because the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation struck down their ban on the state's executive or the state's executive branch suspended enforcement of their ban. In Mexico's system, those five states still need to insert marriage equality into their legal codes as well by passing it through their state Congress. Mexico is the world's 10th most populous nation. The president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation celebrated this news on Twitter, writing, the whole country shines with a huge rainbow. Like, live the dignity and rights of all people. Love is love. So, all right. Now, let's go to some bad news from North America. I have a picture before you of Melissa Nunez 42, a transgender woman activist who was killed in Honduras. She lived, she spent 25 years in Miami. And moved back to Honduras. She was leaving friends and was shot by a motorcyclist driving by in the town of Moraselli. She dropped some friends off and was leaving talking on the cell phone when she was gunned down. Police spokesman said the motive behind the crime is thought to be a personal issue with her enemies, whatever that means. Her sister said she'd returned to Honduras in November, 2021 after living in the US, as I said, for about 25 years. The coordinator of the LGBT group in Honduras said 95% of the LGBTQ community that lives in Honduras does so because of, leaves Honduras because of high levels of violence and discrimination or people who have been attacked or fired from their jobs because of their gender orientation or who have suffered life-threatening attacks. The head of the National Human Rights Commission's regional office said his office would follow the case to ensure that the crime does not go unpunished. So, good news and bad news from North America. Now if I'd like to go a little south to South America, if I may. More good news, let's show you a picture now of Eduardo Liette, 37, member of the Centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party. He defeated Onyx Lorozoni of the Right Wing Liberal Party who is President Jair Bolsonaro's former chief of staff by a clear margin. To be governor, Rio Grande do Sul. He defeated Lorozoni, the Bolsonaro-Henchman ally, defeated Liette in the election's first round but neither received 50% of the vote so a runoff election took place on Sunday. Rio Grande spoke louder, tweeted Liette after his victory. I appreciate all the votes he received. It's out of love, it's out of respect. It's for our project. Starting today, we have another chapter in our history. It's all of us for all of us and we will go much further. He became governor of Brazil's southernmost state in 2019, came out in July, 2021 during an interview with a late night talk show host. First he endorsed Bolsonaro despite his rhetoric against LGBTQ people and intersex Brazilians and his opposition to marriage equality. But then he unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination to run against Bolsonaro in this year's presidential election and he began to sharply criticize him over his handling of the COVID-19 epidemic which was executable as we recall. He's one of 324 openly LGBTQ candidates who ran this year's gubernatorial state legislative congressional and presidential elections. And you may recall last time I showed you a picture of two transgender women who won two seats in Congress on October 2nd. Fabio Felix, as I said last time, a gay member of the Socialism and Liberty Party also won reelection on October 2nd. So good news from Brazil. Let's stay with Brazil and talk about this film clip which is called The First Fallen. This dramatic story of three friends in a small Brazilian town in 1983 at the time when the first wave of the AIDS epidemic takes hold in their community, they decide to form a chosen family of their own. The First Fallen is the title, you get it, right? This is Rodrigo de Oviara's first feature length film but he brings to it an understanding of the historical context of his characters who live in the Brazilian state of Esperanto and who he was sunk to along the Atlantic coast just north of Rio de Janeiro. The Portuguese title is The First Fallen. I won't share my Portuguese with you. Perhaps it perhaps better captures the determination of the three characters, Suzano, Umberto and Rosa, who act like soldiers and do something different in response to the largely misunderstood epidemic of AIDS as it arrived in Brazil in 1983. So let's take a look at that clip. I know, and I couldn't figure out where it's showing, so it's been at festivals, so look around for it because it looks really good. I wish there were a longer clip so we could get a greater sense of it but that's why I shared a good plot summary. Now, should I stop? I'm on, I can go on to Asia. I think you should do that on your next clip. Okay. Very good. Now we have... When did she start listening to you? I know. I'm organizing my chunks now. And we're going to be checking your passport to make sure you have visas for all these. Rowan Ward, a non-binary contestant in the Second Chance Tournament on Jeopardy. You can see their picture. Won their semifinal game in an episode that aired Wednesday in advance to two part finals in the tournament, which will be broadcast this week. Ward competed last year against Matt Amandio, one of the top champions in 21-22 season. The Second Chance Tournament, which began airing last week, gives Ward and others who lost to big winners like Amandio, Amy Schneider, and Matt Roach the opportunity to claim a berth in the tournament champions, which begins airing on Monday. So that should be interesting, I think. Okay. And last week, Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee attacked Mulvaney, who's been chronicling her transition on TikTok and on Twitter. Blackburn shared a video of Mulvaney and wrote, Dylan Mulvaney, Joe Biden, and the radical left-wing lunatics want to make this absurdity normal. In the video, Mulvaney says trans women should not feel they have to tuck their penises or avoid wearing tight pants and that the bulges in the crotch area should be normalized. Jenner retweeted Blackburn's tweet praising the senator and saying, let's not normalize any of what this person is doing or so. I don't think I'm old enough to hear that story. All right. So there was a murder in Washington in 1987. A lesbian was murdered in her apartment building in D.C. and her girlfriend was put in prison for the murder. Well, it turns out after 20-something years, let's see, a long time, I don't know, 30 or 40 years, this girlfriend has been in prison. And it turns out that the DNA does not connect her to the murder and it connects a male to the murder. And this person that killed the lesbian also appears to have killed some other woman in the same building. So we'll keep you posted. I wonder if she can sue for wrongful imprisonment. Maybe, but, you know, they. Cool, I'll prove it. Yeah. So we'll keep you posted as we hear more about how that progresses. Because money can't give you all those years back. I know you can't. Money's not going to do it either. I mean, if you know, you went in when you were 35 and you come out at 50 or 55, it's kind of. And this is an interesting twist. The Kruger supermarket chain has settled the lawsuit via a consent decree with two former employees in Arkansas who claimed they were fired for refusing to wear aprons with a rainbow heart, which they felt violated their religious beliefs. The two believed the heart was in support of LGBTQ plus community. On Thursday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the Kruger limited partnership had to pay $180,000 to former employees in return for dropping their suit. Both employees were subsequently disciplined and fired in 2019. Although Kruger maintains they were not terminating retaliation for their actions, they were 57 and 72 years old, respectively. And at the time, they were fired from their positions at Kruger supermarket in Conway. Arkansas, the employees will receive $70,000 each. An advocacy group in Denver is bringing attention to domestic violence as an ongoing issue. Men and LGBTQ people have been calling for help in more significant numbers since the pandemic began, according to the group, Safe House Denver, is hoping to snap the stigma of speaking out for anyone who is a victim of domestic violence. According to its website, the group is the only agency in the city and county of Denver that offers comprehensive domestic violence services to victims of domestic abuse. So it seems like more men are coming forward now with domestic abuse. Richland, Virginia, I'm Richland, Washington. By a four to one vote, the Richland School Board approved a contentious policy that instills certain restrictions on the way race, sexuality, and culture are allowed to be discussed in schools. During a school board meeting on the evening of 25th, four of five Richland School Board members agreed to policy 2360, which is entitled Race, Culture, and the Curriculum. It's a near identical policy to the one passed by the Kennywick School Board earlier this year. The following passage comes directly from the document shared during this meeting. And then lastly, I will talk about a high school girls volleyball team in Cherokee County School District, North Carolina, is forfeiting their remaining games this season against a school that has a transgender player. The decision came after a player on the Higwasi DM High School team was injured by a ball spiked by a player on the Highland School team, according to station WTVC in neighboring Chattanooga, Tennessee. Other sources have identified this biker as a transgender girl. Nokes from Cherokee County Board of Education meeting call her a biological male. There was much public comment at the meeting. One speaker claimed that the presence of a biological male pulls wrists to girls, and that he feared biological males would win over girls sports. Another commentator stated the board that he was hopeful. They voted on the issue based on their morals, ethics, and Christian upbringing, as related in the notes. 18 states have passed laws barring trans students for participating on school sport teams designated for their gender identity. Some of them affect trans girls only, while others affect trans boys as well. Some of them include state colleges and universities in addition to public elementary and secondary schools. However, North Carolina is not among those states. All right. So hold on to that ball. Oh, are you done? Yep, yep. Hold on to that volleyball theme, because let's go to Randolph, Vermont. And I'm going to try and go through this chronologically and as logically as possible. But I want you to keep in mind that a lot of this has been played out on the social media. And the backdrop, Randolph, is an orange county. One of the election races being watched very closely is the Orange County Senate race, where the Republican candidate is voicing much of that alt-right propaganda. And they're seeing it as being a very close race. Because of redistricting, they went from purple leaning toward blue to purple we don't know. And also keep this in the back of your mind. The 2019 Behavioral Risk Survey that was done here in Vermont, LGBTQ plus youth are twice as likely to be bullied and five times more likely to attempt suicide than their cisgendered heterosexual peers. And LGBTQ plus youth are three times as likely to have skipped school in the preceding 30 days because of feeling unsafe. Randolph, lots of information floating around, where it came to most people's attention was a WCAX story, which focused very heavily on one student who was 14-year-old member of the girls volleyball team. This was their first year playing on the team. That player's mother had contacted CAAX and said, this is what is happening with my daughter and a transgender student that's being allowed to use the same locker room. CAAX interviewed the student, but only that student and aired a very biased story about, so what is happening with high school locker rooms, transgender students, et cetera. The Randolph School District could not comment because there was an active investigation going on, and there will be more about that later because of a filing that happened last week disclosing more information than we the public had been able to get. However, the CAAX story was picked up on social media, and it went down on the national but global, to such an extent that the Randolph School District had to close down their website because of the hate that was being directed toward them. The superintendent stood up and said, this is what happens when there is no accountability on social media. We are not able to make a statement because HIPAA regulations say we cannot disclose, and this misinformation just gets perpetuated. I want you to hold on to that thought because when I talk about the filing, this is all going to look so different because the original student's allegation was that the transgender member of the volleyball team had made an inappropriate comment to the other players in the locker room. So Randolph School did a public forum and said to people, OK, everyone is welcome. You just need to identify who you are. You'd be giving a limited amount of time to speak. This has to be a civil conversation. 350 people showed up. And one of the most notable comments from the evening was one youth who stood up and said, you don't know what this feels like. You all have forgotten we're just kids, basically saying we need help and support. And they got a standing ovation. The second community forum that had been scheduled had to be postponed because of the, again, increase in hate coming from across the nation and across the world. So apparently the school has taken action. And a lot of this information comes out of a filing last week entered by, oh, the Alliance Defending Freedom? Sound familiar? We remember them. These are the people with the cake. These were also the people with challenging state funding for faith-based and parochial schools, and they won. But the student in question, who was interviewed by WCAX, they will be student one. And student one's father, who apparently is also a coach for the middle school, received letters from the school district and the co-principals. They found that student one had engaged in verbal and physical conduct directed at a student on the basis of the targeted student's gender identity during team events, practices on the field, and in the locker room. It was student one's intention to ridicule, humiliate, and or intimidate the targeted student and was in violation of the school district's bullying policy as a result. Sounds a little different than the CAX. And by the way, CAX took their story down with a sort of blasé statement of it's being used to harass and targeting transgender youth and we don't want to be part of that. Well, there was no apology or ownership. So they didn't take responsibility. But OK, this is going on. The school suspended student one and said that they had to take part in a restorative circle and submit an essay documenting what they had learned from the experience. If student one refused to participate in the process, they would continue to be suspended from school for an additional three days. So apparently there was some kind of initial, the student one's father was suspended without pay from his position as a middle school girls soccer coach for using inappropriate pronouns and the term male to refer to the transgender student. And what was said to the coach was that the misgendering of the student was unprofessional and unbecoming and flies in the face of the Vermont Principles Association athletic regulations. They asked that the coach issue a public apology. And it was after he refused that he was suspended without pay. Indefinitely. That's what it looks like. But then again, the Alliance defending freedom has filed a suit saying that these actions are in violation of their First Amendment freedom of speech and is asking that the coach be reinstated, that the school retracts all of the actions that they have taken. So where do these people come from? Well, we know where they come from. We've met them. No, but I mean there's the freedom. The Alliance defending freedom. I mean, what are they in every state, everywhere, every town? I mean, you know, really? The answer is yes. I mean, they have both a national and a global because Ann has reported on they and allied organizations sponsoring people going to other countries and let's spread our ideology. Oh, Lord. Well, keep us posted as it goes along. But also occurring sort of simultaneously, there was an incident and we were talking about it before we started taping, with the Winooski Girls soccer team in a match with BFA Fairfax, where racist and homophobic comments were made by members of the BFA Fairfax team to the Winooski team. And the referees immediately stopped the game, pulled the coaches aside, had the coaches go talk to their players before they could resume playing. And apparently, it was not only the players that were making comments, it was their parents in the bleachers. And the superintendent in Randolph made a very telling comment that is applicable here. The Winooski incident as well is, we have a hard time instilling values in our students when they go home and this is what's being modeled for them or this is what they're seeing online in their social media. These are the sort of other external stimuli that they're encountering. We have no way to compete with them. So yes, indeed, we will be following and. So did they go back and play or not? Yes, they resumed play. And there were no further incidents throughout that game. Good. And then we're going to be looking with our upcoming legislative session because bullying has been a conversation for a while at the state house. And a part of that conversation is that the current standard uses language saying pervasive and severe. OK, what does that really mean? And if it's verbal or it's occurring on social media, what is the response? Because if, as some of us know, if you have names yelled at you on a daily basis, it actually has a greater impact than if you just came up and hit me and walked away. So I turn to you, Ann. Are we going to Asia or Europe? I have a lot of Asia stories, so I thought I'd cover two short ones before we go there. First is in Europe, good news. Ireland makes transgender people a protective class. So Irish lawmakers have enacted this law. They approved a bill that says anyone who's convicted of purposely inciting hatred or violence against a person due to their gender identity or expression could face up to five years in prison. The updates to the Irish hate crime law, which also included making disabled people a protected class, were made based on international best practices. I'm thinking of putting Ireland on my list of places to move through. Depending on the midterms or overnight, we could be on our way to Dublin. Dublin, New Canada, Portugal. Go ahead. Well, maybe we should go to Cape Town or Pretoria. Malta. Well, the reason that we want to go to Cape Town or Pretoria is now they have installed the continent's first pride crosswalks. In Africa, one installation is located near apartheid-era buildings in Pretoria. South Africa has become the first country to install pride crosswalks in its major cities. There you go. Cape Town followed suit. The first one was in Pretoria on October 20th. The second was in Cape Town two days later. As we know, and let's take a look at this. One of the first picture I'm showing you is of the pride crosswalk in Pretoria. They've been installed in several European and US cities to promote the inclusion of LGBTQ and intersex people. Some activists in South Africa have long called them for them to be installed. Church Square, where the one crosswalk you just saw is located, is where most of the apartheid buildings are situated. In the shadow is the father of the Afro-Consonation Paul Kruger. This is the heartland of apartheid. By having this, the first such conservative city in the first such conservative city is groundbreaking, said Pretoria pride. Cape Town has also put one in. This crosswalk, said Cape Town counselor, is a fantastic statement to the world in Cape Town that two SLGBTQIA plus rights are not something to be hidden, but in fact that we celebrate our freedom and the rights of all people in the city of Cape Town. So good for that. Now we have terrible news. I'm going to start with awful news from Asia and maybe try to ascend from Asia. Let's start with a story I didn't get to last time, but it was still horrible. A gay Palestinian Ahmed Abu Mahia, 25, was beheaded in the West Bank. And I have a picture before you now of him. Palestinian authority police say they've arrested a suspect in his death. He'd been living in Tel Aviv. He'd sought asylum in Israel, was beheaded in the West Bank city of Hebron in an act that was recorded on video and uploaded to social media by the alleged perpetrator. He had been living in Israel for the past two years as an asylum seeker, including stints and various LGBTQ shelters. After authorities acknowledged that his life would be in danger if he returned to the Palestinian territory, an estimated 90 Palestinians who identify as members of the LGBTQ community currently live as asylum seekers in Israel. To qualify, they must prove that they have suffered discrimination or threats of violence in their home communities. Until this past July, and this is unfortunate, asylum seekers were not allowed to work in Israel. According to the founder of a nonprofit organization for members of the Arab LGBTQ community, he had been searching for a stable legal job after the law changed, but had only managed to find low-paying under-the-table jobs restaurants in Tel Aviv's upscale neighborhood. It was not immediately clear how he ended up in Hebron, but friends believed he was kidnapped prior to his murder, although there was no concrete evidence. A human rights official said she'd helped him fill out his asylum papers. He was trying to go to Canada. He'd not return to the West Bank since fleeing his hometown out of fear of retaliation from his estranged family and neighbors, and had no plans to travel back there. An older member of the victim's family claimed that he'd been living in Jordan where his father was born, but often visited Hebron to work and to spend time with his family in the city. The family dismissed claims, you know, I mean, there was a lot of confusion. The family seems to be really mortified that their family member was gay, and so was sort of denying the whole thing. Israeli sources, the Palestinian Authority police and his family have all been unable to clarify whether he knew or had any prior connection to the killer. Palestinians have largely reacted with horror at the crime, even though reports in the Palestinian media have erased or downplayed his sexual orientation in Israeli residency. A presenter at a Palestinian radio station condemned the beheading, saying it crossed every single red line in our society when they're in terms of morals, customs, or basic humanity. Could have been a family member even. Well, you know, it's shrouded in confusion, but the case remains under investigation. Well, as they have the video, they must know who did it. I don't know. I mean, you could video a beheading without showing the person who did it, I imagine. So now, more bad news, but not quite as bad, but bad. Malaysia has detained 20 people at a Halloween party. The Islamic authorities have detained 20 people after raiding an LGBTQ plus Halloween party. The arrests were made on October 29th after federal territory's Islamic Religious Department officers raided a party at Kuala Lumpur, a venue in Kuala Lumpur, for what authorities claim are offenses under Sharia law. According to those involved in the raid, at least 40 religious officers, backed by the police, raided the packed evening venue. Authorities claim they checked at least 53 individuals during the raid and divided them into two groups, Muslim and other faiths. The Muslim groups were then detained with identification details recorded by the Malaysia police. An activist said, somewhere arrested for cross-dressing while others were detained for encouraging vice. The authorities isolated the Muslim participants and identified anyone that did not dress according to the gender they felt them to be. But of course, it's Halloween, so people are dressing in costumes. Of those detained, 18 were questioned about the LGBTQ event by police on October 31st and have been asked to return for further inquiries. A former client MP, Charles Santiago, said, I urge authorities to cease hunting LGBTQ plus people down as though they were criminals. Several human rights organizations have expressed concern over Malaysia's incredibly archaic view of LGBTQ rights. Currently, the country imprisons openly LGBTQ plus people as well as preventing same-sex marriage and gender transition. According to a 2021 survey, Malaysia is one of the worst countries in terms of public opinion on LGBTQ plus people. In total, 65% of Malaysian citizens believe same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry or obtain any kind of legal recognition as a civil partnership. Conversely, a mere 8% said they support same-sex marriage. Not only does the country punish homosexuality with imprisonment, it actively supports conversion therapy centers with government funding. A report from Human Rights Watch found the Malaysian government funds state-sanctioned conversion therapy retreats, which aim to rehabilitate LGBTQ plus people. Let me remind viewers that the popular vacation spot, Bali, is under the Malaysian government, so beware. Now. We only have three minutes, so I don't know how much. If you could do one snappy one, and then we can say good night. Sure. Let me talk about. With the story she's reporting, I'm not sure I'd use the word snappy. Well, I have exciting news for the readers in the audience. And they involve a groundbreaking anthology that sheds light on 18 queer Arab voices. And I have a picture before you now of Elias Sashan, who is the editor of This Arab is Queer. And he's standing there with a copy of the anthology. In a region where 15 countries, at least, criminalized homosexuality, and in those that don't, there's a don't-ask-don't-tell culture, queer Arab communities have been forced to the shadows. But they undeniably exist. And what this editor said that I think is so interesting is that LGBTQ people, the reporting on atrocities against them lacks nuance. So he lived in Australia for a while. He was raised in a Christian household. He found a lot of underlying Islamophobia and racism. In the reporting of how those perceived to be gay were hurled from rooftops and stopped for engaging in extremist group activities. So we can buy this here in the US. We can. It's 1995 out in paperback. He says, I want to show that we have agency and can tell our stories in our own way. We don't need people speaking over and about us all the time. I think this is very exciting. I can't wait to read it. Yeah. Yeah. We'll have to go down to Bear Pond and put in an order. Put it in an order, right? OK. Well, we have a minute left. Anybody have any commentaries? Or shall we just say good night? Well, trivia? Oh, trivia. Well, let's hear the trivia question. OK, you know the answer. They don't. Yes, that's true. I'm so sorry. Well, the audience doesn't. The camera people don't. Paula Poundstone, Tim Gunn, Jeanine Corofalo. What do they have in common? Well, several episodes ago, Kim Ward was telling us about polyamorous. They ain't that. They are asexual. In interviews, all of them have said they essentially have no libido. They have no attraction. They have no interest. They are totally asexual, non-sexual. How interesting. No. But OK. For those three specific people? Yeah. It's another part of our community and expression that we don't spend a lot of time talking about. OK. Well, on that note, see you in two weeks. In the meantime, vote and resist.