OutBeat Radio News

Athlete Ally, a non-profit that monitors homophobia in the world of sports, released a new report last week on how well NCAA teams support LGBTQ+ participants and the results are not good. 

Last week’s March Madness final game featured two teams that score at the bottom of the list. 

Meanwhile, the Arkansas state legislature overwhelmingly voted to overturn the governor’s veto of a bill that bans any type of care offered to transgender youth.  The ACLU said the new law is one of the most damaging anti-transgender laws to ever be passed. 

In California, former Olympian and now infamous transgender woman Caitlyn Jenner is exploring a possible run for governor should current Governor Gavin Newsom be recalled.

(Photo: Courtesy of Athlete Ally)

Last week the FDA eased restrictions for men who have sex with men from donating blood.  LGBT rights activists praised the decision, but some say it didn’t go far enough. 

The Human Rights Campaign published a new report last week that shows LGBTQ people stand a greater likelihood of suffering economically because of the coronavirus than their straight peers. 

Meanwhile, UCLA’s Williams Institute also shared information that showed a large percentage of LGBTQ people are likely to receive the special payout from the Government because of their economic situation. 

Many local businesses are suffering financially from COV-19 required closure. Now, a long-standing gay news organization is asking for help from the community to keep going.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB F Radio 91.

(Photo: Senior Airman Shane Karp / Public domain)

President Biden named an out gay police chief, formerly from the Bay Area City of Richmond, to head the Customs and Border Protection agency. 

In Alabama, the parents of a gay high school student who committed suicide has filed suit again the district alleging the district knew of the student’s intention to commit suicide but said nothing to the parents before it was too late. 

And here locally, the former mayor of Sebastopol has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault involving minors.

(Photo: Police Chief Chris Magnus - Courtesy of the City of Tucson)

The Kelloggs cereal announced a special “pride” cereal that features rainbow-colored hearts coated with edible glitter.  The cereal is Kelloggs’ second pride cereal edition and is coming to major grocery stores in May. 

Twenty local LGBTQ politicians and activists have been announced as this year’s inductees to the LGBTQ Hall of Fame.  A ceremony will take place on May 2 sponsored by the LGBTQ Victory Institute. 

Here in Sonoma County, Face to Face announced a new service and partnership that will enable the organization to provide PrEP directly to community members who visit the Face to Face offices.  PrEP is a once-a-day drug that is highly effective in preventing an HIV infection.  Learn more at f2f.org.

In Poland, a gay couple is distributed 300 rainbow fabric masks for free both to help protect people from the coronavirus and to combat homophobia. 

A  gay couple in Texas died within hours of each other from the Corona Virus while their mother-in-law remains infected and quarantined. 

Last week, New York announced the cancelation of this year’s pride celebration, the first time in the event’s 50-year history. 

Meanwhile, San Francisco Pride officials announced that despite the cancellation of San Francisco Pride, grand marshals would still be honored this year with special online events.

(Photo: In their YouTube video, Jakub Kwiecinski and Dawid Mycek distribute free rainbow masks for citizens in northern Poland)

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91.

Despite warnings from the CDC, organizers of the annual Miami based Winter Party held their rave party event in early March and now one of the attendees has died from the coronavirus. 

In New York, a beloved transgender activist died last week after being hospitalized for a coronavirus infection. 

Here locally, organizers of the annual Frameline LGBTQ film festival announced that this year’s event scheduled for June will be postponed to dates in October. San Francisco Mayor London Breed recognized the difficulty of making this decision while announcing the extension of the shelter in place order for the City to May 1st.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio.

A man wearing an LGBTrump t-shirt was arrested for the second time in New York for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter work of art.

In Utah, students and community members are upset about an anti-transgender senior quote posted in the Highland High School yearbook.  School officials missed the comment before the books were printed and are now apologizing. 

Here locally, the Badlands bar in the Castro neighborhood announced it’s closing for good after 45 years in the community. 

And registration is open now for LGBT studies classes at Napa Valley College.

Outbeat News is a service of NorCal Public Media and can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo: Marky Hutt / Twitter)

Ohio Senator Candice Keller is in hot water again after blaming the recent mass shooting in Dayton on, among other things, gay marriage. 

In Washington State, Representative Laurie Jenkins is preparing to be sworn in as speaker of the house.  She is the first woman and first out lesbian to serve in that role. 

Locally, the Oakland LGBT Center received a $100,000 grant from the City of Oakland to support LGBTQ programming.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm a part of Outbeat Radio, exclusively on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo: Washington State Representative Laurie Jenkins - LAJCampaign, Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0])

Monday, August 12, 2019

A new documentary about San Francisco General Hospital’s infamous “Ward 5B” premiers at the end of this month for on-demand play.  It tells the heroic story of the staff and volunteers who cared for AIDS patients in the early years of the crisis.  

In the large gay community of Palm Springs, a man charged into a barbershop wielding a knife.  Police arrived within minutes and were attacked by the man.  Police shot the offender in order to subdue him. 

A SanFrancisco cannabis company donated more than $60,000 to the LGBT Center in hopes of funding youth programs and a new LGBTQ Arts center.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Outbeat Radio News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio, exclusively on KRCB FM Radio 91.

The chief of the critical care unit at a Baltimore Hospital died of COVID-19 last week surrounded by co-workers and his husband has some harsh words for those out there who refuse to wear a mask. 

In a small town in Pennsylvania, pro-Trump supporters clashed with Black Live Matter protesters and started chanting “kill transgenders!” 

The city council of a popular tourist stop in Alaska unanimously passed an ordinance last week prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination. 

And a new study shows that drivers of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are prone to discrimination against riders who support LGBTQ equality.

(Photo: Dr. Joseph Costa was chief of Mercy Medical Center’s Critical Care Division. He died due to COVID-19)

Last week’s Republican convention included plenty of homophobic and transphobic rhetoric lead by, among others, Cissie Graham Lynch, granddaughter of the late televangelist Billy Graham. 

In the State of New York, Governor Cuomo renamed a state park after the fierce LGBTQ activist and Stonewall veteran, Marsha P. Johnson.  The governor said all too often that particularly women of color are forgotten in history. 

Here locally, portions of San Francisco’s Castro district will close off streets to vehicular access to allow for local restaurants and bars to serve food and drinks outside on weekends.  It’s an experiment that could continue beyond this fall if successful.

(Photo: Courtesy C-SPAN)

Russian authorities exercised their 2013 LGBT propaganda law to take away two adopted children from a same-sex couple and activists are worried that this practice will expand. 

Here in the United States, a new Zillow study shows that home values in gay-centric neighborhoods sell for more than 200% higher than the median price of homes in the surrounding areas.  The study included data showing Guerneville as having one of the highest ratios of same-sex couples in California.  

Napa Valley College will be hosting a national LGBT for Law Enforcement conference with the goal of strengthening law enforcement’s relationship with the LGBT community.

(Photo courtesy of Zillow)

The U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to transgender rights advocates last week by rejecting a lawsuit brought by parents of students at an Oregon school. 

In Texas, a high school student is taking on his high school after he was suspended for wearing nail polish, a ruling the student says discriminates against him because girls are allowed to wear polish on their nails. 

Meanwhile, in California, the oldest and youngest people elected to the state legislature were sworn in last week and both are part of the LGBTQ caucus.  They were sworn in by California’s newest Supreme Court Justice who is also the first out gay man to serve on the state’s high court.

(Photo: Susan Walsh / AP file)

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRB FM Radio 91.

Heath officials in Australia report new HIV infections among straight identifying men were up in 2019 while new infections in gay men were down. 

Here in the U.S., dozens of organizations signed a letter to Facebook urging the media giant to stop posting ads from private injury attorneys targeted at those who use Truvada, a drug shown to be 99% effective in preventing an HIV infection. 

In the traditionally republican state of Arizona, an out, gay democratic candidate is tied with Donald Trump in the run for president according to new polling data.

(Photo: Spebi - Martyman. [CC BY-SA 3.0])

Last month, the FBI reported that the number of hate crimes dropped slightly in 2018, while hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people rose.  Also, violence directed at transgender people, particularly trans women of color continued to soar.  Last year 26 transgender people were violently murdered and so far, this year, 22 have died in a hate crime. 

This week Outbeat News offers a special report on hate crime trends and examines why the statistics may be inaccurate.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm, as part of Outbeat Radio, on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo: FBI Headquarters at night - Public Domain/via Wikipedia)

Just in time for the holiday season, Hallmark reacted to backlash from conservative Christians about a commercial Hallmark aired showing a same-sex couple at the alter getting married.  Fortunately, Hallmark reversed course. 

In a related story, a gay man seeking to marry his same-sex partner is being offered a free wedding ceremony by one hotel after his first choice turned him away because they don’t specialize in same-sex marriage ceremonies. 

Here in the Bay Area, the National Center for Lesbian Rights named a new executive director.

(Photo: Gay travel blogger Josh Rimer - YouTube screen capture)

Switzerland’s parliament has passed two key pieces of legislation; one will provide same-sex marriage to LGBTQ couples, the other allows transgender people to more easily change their name and gender marker on government documents. 

In the U.S., a judge has ordered the state of Wisconsin corrections department to provide sex reassignment surgery to a trans woman diagnosed with gender dysphoria. 

Meanwhile, in California, a gay couple in Eureka discovered their Christmas decorations were destroyed and local police are investigating it as a hate crime.

Outbeat News is a service of NorCal Public Media and can be heard as part of Outbeat Radio, Sunday at 7 pm on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo: Eddo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

This week Outbeat Radio host Greg Miraglia looks at some of the top LGBTQ events of the first two decades of the 21st century.

From the elimination of sodomy laws in 2003 to nation-wide marriage equality in 2015, the LGBTQ community has been center stage at the Supreme Court this decade. Despite the gains, there were some huge losses and it doesn’t look bright for LGBT civil rights as we prepare to start the next decade. 

(Photo: Daderot [Public domain])

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91.

Monday, December 30, 2019

A federal judge ruled last week that the U.S. State Department can no longer require transgender people to provide a signed doctor’s note before changing the gender marker on a passport. 

Actor Elliot Page, formerly Ellen Page, announced he is transgender last week and received overwhelming support from all corners of social media. 

Meanwhile, in California, a federal judge ruled that the DMV cannot censor a personalized license plate using the word QUEER. DMW called it an offensive word and the court said DMV was violating the right to free speech.

(Photo: Ovinus Real, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Trump Administration announced its plan to wipe out HIV by 2030 and part of that plan includes making PrEP available to everyone at no cost. 

Last Monday at the National Cathedral in Washington DC, a plaque marking the place where Matthew Shepard was laid to rest was dedicated.  Matthew's mother Judy Shepard said now is the time to move forward away from the event and on to preventing hate crimes from happening in the future. 

The Human Rights Campaign released its annual municipal equality index that assesses various aspects of LGBTQ equality.  One Sonoma County town came out on top.

(Photo: PrEP - NIAID [CC BY 2.0])

Starbucks has a new ad featuring a young trans man that has caught the attention of the trans community in the UK on social media. 

Here in the U.S., New York’s Governor renamed a Brooklyn City Park after famed LGBTQ icon Marsha P Johnson making it the first park in the state named after a member of the LGBTQ community. 

If you watched this year’s Super Bowl, you probably noticed a number of queer-themed commercials for major brands.  But not everyone was excited about this ‘rainbow wave” of advertising.

(Photo: Still shot from commercial – Courtesy Starbucks)

Representative Marjorie Greene who is best known for many crazy Q-Anon-type conspiracy theories introduced a Bill last week to ban the flying of the rainbow pride flag at U.S. embassies around the world. 

In Mississippi, another transgender woman was found dead after being shot in her car.  Tragically, she was misgendered and her name disrespected by both police and local media. 

The Bay Area lost two activists last week for unrelated causes.  Carmen Vasquez and Hershon are being remembered this week for their life’s work in our local LGBTQ community.

(Photo: Marjorie Taylor Greene - Erin Scott, pool/AFP via Getty Images/NPR)

California Insurance companies were reminded by the State that they cannot discriminate against transgender men based on age and that even those under 18 are entitled to support for medically recommended reconstruction surgeries. 

Two new controversial laws went into effect this January 1st here in California. One requires state prison officials to honor the gender identity, pronouns, and names of transgender inmates and to house them at a facility that matches their gender identity. The other protects California LGBTQ youth from being unfairly placed on the state’s sex offender registry. 

Locally, the Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma announced plans to virtually present James Lecesne’s play, “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey.”

(Photo: California State Capitol in Sacramento – Steven Pavlov, CC)

The Supreme Court in the Philippines closed any further arguments for marriage equality and same-sex marriage in the largely religious country will remain banned to the delight of some government officials. 

Meanwhile, a gay man was arrested for sending a threatening letter with a white powder in it to a gay bay in New York. 

In Florida, a youth football coach denounced homosexuality on social media and may be forced to quit coaching. 

Napa Valley College announced a brand-new class for this spring called Transgender Issues and Identities.

(Photo: Philippines Supreme Court in Manila - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio.

A U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled against the U.S. Air Force and Trump Administration policy of discharging service members who are HIV-positive.  The court cited an outdated view of HIV and a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act in their decision. 

Two seminary students in California who were expelled from school because they are married to a same-sex partner are suing the college for violation Title IX. 

Meanwhile, Rick Weltz, the president of the Golden State Warriors married his same-sex partner of 9 years in a ceremony officiated by Mayor London Breed.

(Photo: Court of Federal Appeals for the Fourth District, Richmond, Virginia, USA - Acroterion [CC BY-SA 3.0])

Vice President Mike Pence praised President Trump’s decision to allow adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ couples in the name of religious freedom while more than 100,000 children wait to be adopted.  

In Tennessee, the state legislature passed a bill similar in content that makes it legal to deny same-sex parents adoption again in the name of religious freedom.  That state’s governor has pledged to sign the bill into law. 

And 44 federal legislators sign a letter to homeland security and ice officials demanding that transgender immigrants being held in ice detention facilities be released.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 7 pm during Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo by Michael Vadon [CC BY-SA 4.0])

New York’s Governor has signed a bill requiring all of the state’s single-use restrooms to be labeled as gender-neutral.  The new law received huge support in both the legislature and from more than 100 LGBTQ groups. 

A recent analysis of Amazon’s charity fundraising program, Amazon Smile, revealed a number of anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion groups are benefiting from the charity.  Amazon Smile has raised more than 215 million dollars for non-profits including those anti-LGBTQ groups. 

In California, the City of West Hollywood City Council unanimously approved painting a crosswalk with the colors of the transgender flag and to add black and brown stripes to the existing rainbow-colored crosswalks as a way to support both the transgender community and LGBTQ people of color.

Outbeat News is a service of NorCal Public Media and can be heard as part of Outbeat Radio, Sunday at 7 pm on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo: AxelBoldt - Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

A new study of LGBTQ Americans finds that the vast majority favors the participation of corporations and uniformed police in pride events, despite the fractional opinions of some radical pride organizers. 

In Washington DC, the Human Rights Campaign named Alfonso David as the new President, succeeding Chad Griffin.  David has family roots in Liberia and brings a strong human rights legal background to the HRC. 

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors designates the Castro neighborhood an LGBTQ historical district.

(Photo: Castro Street Theater - Jamezcd [CC BY-SA 3.0])

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio.

This October, the United States Supreme Court will hear a potential landmark employment discrimination case that will determine if sexual orientation and gender identity apply to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  A group of republican law makers believe it does and have filed a brief in support of protecting LGBTQ people from employment discrimination under this act. 

The CDC released a new report that 40% of Americans have never had an HIV test, including 30% of those who are at high risk for an infection.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91.

Monday, July 15, 2019

The Netherlands announced that the country will eliminate all gender markers on all forms of identification except for passports by the year 2025. 

In California, a federal judge has ordered the release of the videotapes made of the infamous Proposition 8 trial held in 2010 that lead to same-sex marriage being stored in California.  But proponents of Proposition 8 immediately filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court hoping to block the release of the trial tapes. 

And in Santa Monica, California, workers at a Burger King are protesting management’s inappropriate and lacking response to an employee’s recent death from the Corona Virus.  Instead of taking responsibility, management blamed the transgender worker’s death on hormones.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91.

(Photo: Dutch flag – Dutchgamer, Yusuf Babayusuf / CC BY 4.0)

The new viral social media app that allows users to change a picture of their face to either age or be younger has raised concerns of some LGBTQ people about privacy after learning the app has strong ties to Russia. 

Here in California the Department of Justice released hate crime data from 2018 that shows a slight decrease in report hate crimes against LGBTQ people after two years of increases. 

Another popular steak-house restaurant in the Castro neighborhood is closing its doors after 12 years of business.

(Photo: Eureka Restaurant & Lounge in San Francisco, CA – via Google Street View)

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio.

A 41-year-old female Russian LGBTQ activist was found stabbed to death in front of her home last week.  She had been listed on a website advocating for the hunting and torture of LGBTQ people. 

In gay-friendly St. Petersburg, Florida, a candidate for mayor said that he believes homosexuality is a choice. 

Locally, the San Francisco International Airport celebrated the opening of Harvey Milk Terminal 1, the first airport terminal in the world named after an LGBT icon.

Outbeat News can also be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio.

(Photo: Harvey Milk Terminal - Gregory Varnum,  Own work [CC BY-SA 4.0])

A catholic priest has been indicted in Texas for allegedly exposing himself to a 15-year-old boy during confession when the young victim confessed to being gay. Earlier this month, a catholic bishop urged parents to keep their children away from Pride events because they were “harmful” to children. 

As part of Pride celebrations in Illinois, the governor signed an executive order to help protect transgender students in the state’s schools.

Here locally, San Francisco’s 49th annual pride parade was halted early on when protesters blocked the parade route for over an hour.

(Photo: Manuel La Rosa-Lopez - City of Conroe Police Department)

Outbeat News can be heard Sinday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB-FM Radio 91.

The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear a case involving discrimination of same-sex couples seeking to adopt children from Catholic Social Services. Meanwhile, the Trump administration filed a brief defending the Catholic organization’s discriminatory practices under the guise of religious freedom. 

In Chicago, the mayor is vowing to fire a police officer who was caught on camera hurling profanity and anti-LGBT slurs at protesters.  

Kaiser Permanente researchers are reporting success with a new optional regimen involving the use of PrEP to present HIV infections and the results are truly promising.

(Photo: Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany / CC BY 2.0)

Last week’s historic landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ people in employment was surprising on many levels, not the least of which include the justices who both supported and wrote the decision for the court. 

In Tennessee, a deputy sheriff was fired from his job after a local source discovered racist and anti-LGBTQ posts on the deputy’s social media site. 

In Foster City, officials reversed course on their decision about flying the rainbow flag.

A virtual Sonoma County Pride celebration is set to take place this Saturday.

(Photo: Ted Eytan / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The U.S. Supreme Court sent back another same-sex wedding cake case involving the exercise of religious freedom in a state that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ people, but in another case the same week, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote an opinion that suggested precedent may not protect the national marriage equality decision and hinted that the right marry could be overturned if the Supreme Court were given the chance to look at that decision again in the future.  

(Photo: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas - U.S. government. [Public domain])

Here locally, it’s Pride week and the annual San Francisco Pride celebration and parade takes place next Saturday and Sunday.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio, exclusively on KRCB FM Radio 91.

LGBT activists used a drone to place a rainbow pride flag in the hands of a famous statue in the often anti-LGBTQ country of Ukraine. 

Pride celebrations happened virtually all over the U.S.; perhaps inspiring a 90-year-old man to come out of the closet for the first time while wondering about the love of his life from 50 years ago. 

Cities throughout the Bay Area raised the pride flag on official flag poles, but in San Ramon and Danville, the City Council’s voted to raise the Philadelphia version of the flag created in 2017 that includes a brown and black stripe representing LGBTQ communities of color.

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM-Radio 91.

(Photo: Courtesy of Kyiv Pride)

ParaDox [CC BY-SA 2.5]The World Health Organization voted to reclassify people whose gender identity doesn’t match their birth sex from having a mental disorder to simply being “gender incongruent.”  Being transgender is no longer regarded as a disorder by the WHO. 

Benson Kua [CC BY-SA 2.0]Cities across the Bay Area have voted to fly the rainbow flag during the month of June, except for one - the City of Dublin, but the backlash is causing the City Council to re-think their decision.

Monday, June 3, 2019

Outbeat News can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio.