July 17, 2020

Dozens of gravestones vandalized in Europe's oldest surviving Jewish cemetery

The oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe was vandalized.

At least 50 gravestones in the medieval Jewish cemetery in the German city of Worms were smeared with a greenish paint, the city said in a statement.

The incident took place on Thursday. The cemetery was ordered closed for a week.

There are about 2,500 gravesites in the cemetery, which is called Heiliger Sand, or Holy Sands, some dating back to the mid-11th century. Among the vandalized gravesites was the tomb of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, known as the Maharam, a prominent rabbi who died in 1293.

The city website said that it did not believe the vandalism was motivated by anti-Semitism or politics.

Meanwhile, experts reportedly are working to figure out how to clean and restore the gravestones.

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July 14, 2020

Soros' foundation to spend $220 million to support Black groups advocating for racial justice

Open Society, the foundation founded by liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros, is set to donate $220 million to racial justice groups in the wake of awareness stoked by civil unrest around the issue of police brutality.

A statement Monday from the foundation said $150 million of the $220 million will be be in the form of five-year grants to a diverse set of Black-led organizations fighting for racial justice, including legacy groups and a number that have risen in recent years.

“These investments will empower proven leaders in the Black community to reimagine policing, end mass incarceration, and eliminate the barriers to opportunity that have been the source of inequity for too long,” Alex Soros, George Soros’ son and the co-chairman of Open Society, said in a statement.

The five-year span is intended to sustain awareness of racial justice issues even as the events of this summer, launched with the police killing in Minneapolis in May of George Floyd, recede from the headlines, the statement said.

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July 14, 2020

Muggers thought a gay couple would be an easy target. They picked the wrong men to try to rob.

Two men allegedly pulled knives on a gay couple and called them anti-gay slurs while trying to rob them, but they instead ended up on the ground, restrained until police arrived.

Kelson Akomolafe, 27, said that he and his partner Edward Hoard, 30, were attacked in the Bronx last week on July 7.

“I was going to this clinic right here with my partner and then boom, all of this happened,” Akomolafe said in a Facebook Live video, according to Gay City News.

He said that two men approached them and one of them was shouting.

“We just came out of the street and this guy starts saying something like, ‘Ooh, we know you’re gay,'” he said, adding that the attacker called him and his partner “fa***ts” and “batty men.”

keep reading, including the part where the gay VICTIM was also taken into custody...

July 9, 2020

(Jewish Group) Trump campaign accuses Democrats of trying to 'rig election' -- with money from Jews

Trump campaign accuses Democrats of trying to ‘rig election’ — with money from Jewish billionaires

President Trump’s reelection campaign sent a letter to would-be voters accusing Democrats of trying to “rig the November election” with money from three billionaires with Jewish ancestry.

The letter, which was first publicized last week by the progressive Jewish group Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, criticized Democrats for trying to expand remote voting options.

“With the help of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — and using the funds of their Leftist billionaire allies like George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, and Tom Steyer — Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer are pushing for ways to rig the November election — from calling for all ballots to be cast by mail, to same day registration, to requiring no ID to vote,” the letter stated.

Soros and Bloomberg are Jewish, and Steyer had a Jewish father.

The three men are some of the most prominent Democratic donors, but some Jews have accused Republicans of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes by singling out their spending on political efforts.

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I italicized the problem area. I think it is a HOOT that Bloomberg is considered a "leftist".

June 30, 2020

The Stonewall Inn Has Been Saved from Permanent Closure With Nearly $300,000 in Donations

After reports last week announced that the Stonewall Inn may be permanently closing its doors, the gay bar, known as a cornerstone for the LGBTQ+ movement, has received a $250,000 donation to prevent this from happening.

With Covid-19 in full swing, the Stonewall Inn was faced with uncertainty around whether it can remain open as NYC begins phase two of its reopening plan. Although the bar is able to serve customers outdoors and managed to secure funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, owner Stacy Lentz said this simply isn’t enough to pay the growing bills. According to CNN, Lentz said the monthly rent alone for the Stonewall Inn is over $40,000.

On June 13, the bar began a GoFundMe campaign in order to save the business and protect its historic significance. Lentz said that the funds raised will go directly to rent and insurance payments.

At the time of this article, the campaign has raised $296,543. The Gill Foundation, a leading funder for LGBTQ rights, has pledged $250,000 of that figure. As donations continue to come in, the funds secure the bar's future after the devastating impact of Covid-19.

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It is good to see the preservation of gay history.

June 28, 2020

Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad

She sat there with her legs crossed, the lashes of her mascara-coated eyes beating like the wings of a hummingbird. She was angry. She was so upset she hadn't bothered to shave. A day old stubble was beginning to push through the pancake makeup. She was a he. A queen of Christopher Street.

Last weekend the queens had turned commandos and stood bra strap to bra strap against an invasion of the helmeted Tactical Patrol Force. The elite police squad had shut down one of their private gay clubs, the Stonewall Inn at 57 Christopher St., in the heart of a three-block homosexual community in Greenwich Village. Queen Power reared its bleached blonde head in revolt. New York City experienced its first homosexual riot.

"We may have lost the battle, sweets, but the war is far from over," lisped an unofficial lady-in-waiting from the court of the Queens.

"We've had all we can take from the Gestapo," the spokesman, or spokeswoman, continued. "We're putting our foot down once and for all. "The foot wore a spiked heel.

According to reports, the Stonewall Inn, a two-story structure with a sand pained brick and opaque glass façade, was a mecca for the homosexual element in the village who wanted nothing but a private little place where they could congregate, drink, dance and do whatever little girls do when they get together.

The thick glass shut out the outside world of the street. Inside, the Stonewall bathed in wild, bright psychedelic lights, while the patrons writhed to the sounds of a juke box on a square dance floor surrounded by booths and table. The bar did a good business and the waiters, or waitresses, were always kept busy, as they snaked their way around the dancing customers to the booths and tables. For nearly two years, peace and tranquility reigned supreme for the Alice in Wonderland clientele.

more... (Reprinted from "The New York Daily News," July 6, 1969)

The Stonewall Riots: the flashpoint that launched the gay rights movement in the US

When it happened, it was totally unexpected. The New York City Police had done this sort of thing many times before: rousting gay bar patrons, fully knowing that in their shame and surprise they would not offer any resistance. But, in the early hours of 28 June 1969, the familiar script was torn up. When eight policemen arrived to raid the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village, they proceeded as usual: checking ID documents, arresting obvious ‘female impersonators’, and generally harassing the clientele.

However, the mood quickly took an unfamiliar turn. Instead of the usual compliance, people fought back inside the club. While this was going on, a crowd of forcibly ejected clubbers gathered outside: as it happened, the Stonewall Inn was on a block with a small public space, Christopher Park.

Something snapped. As the police began to load in transvestites and young hustlers – street prostitutes – into their vans, a fierce lesbian fought the arresting officers every step of the way. Inspired by her ferocity, the crowd moved from insult to action.

First it was bottles and loose change. Then it was bricks and paving stones, heaved at the police. Taken aback by the ferocity of a previously passive minority, the police ceded the streets and retreated back into the club. Once barricaded in, they were assaulted with parking meters, garbage cans and Molotov cocktails by an enraged crowd, which had swelled to several hundred people. “I was sick of being told I was sick,” one rioter remembered, while the general mood was “this has got to stop”.

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10 LGBT Uprisings Before Stonewall

The Cooper Do-nuts Riot, Los Angeles
May 1959

Picket at Whitehall Street Induction Center, New York
September 19, 1964

ECHO White House Demonstration, D.C.
April 17, 1965

Council on Religion and the Homosexual Ball, San Francisco
January 1, 1965

Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit-In, Philadelphia
April 25, 1965

The Independence Hall "Annual Reminders," Philadelphia
July 4, 1965

The Julius' Sip-In, New York City
April 21, 1966

Compton's Cafeteria Riot, San Francisco
August, 1966

Black Cat Protests, Los Angeles
February 11, 1967

Patch Riot, Los Angeles
August 17, 1968

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How You Can Help Save the Stonewall Inn

Even if you've never been there, you've heard of it; The Stonewall Inn, one of New York City's foremost landmarks of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, is in danger of closing permanently in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.



Stonewall has been a shining monument to the early fight for gay rights in the Greenwich Village for decades now, ever since the 1969 riots that put the bar under an international spotlight as a hub for queer liberation. Key patrons of the bar, like transgender rights advocates Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, were both the catalysts for and on the frontlines of the fight against police raids of queer bars and clubs in NYC. While the riots may have put the bar on the map, it was the work and iconography of queer and trans people of color that ensured its lasting impact as a community center for changemakers.

The once-crowded bar has been empty these days during an era of closures and social distancing. "The Stonewall Inn faces an uncertain future and we are in need of community support," a statement on the bar's Instagram reads. "The road to recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic will be long and we need to continue to safeguard this vital piece of living history for the LGBTQ community and the global human rights movement and we now must ask for your help to save one of the LGBTQ+ communities most iconic institutions and to keep that history alive."


The bar, made a national monument under President Barack Obama, is asking for donations via two separate GoFundMe campaigns. One is for supporting the business and its operations, and another is for its staff. While the business-wide campaign has reached its goal, its staff still needs help reaching a $60,000 goal. Donate to the staff campaign here.

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51 years ago...Queer History was made!

June 4, 2020

Cops beat LGBTQ protestors leaving demonstration at Stonewall Inn

A protest against police brutality at the Stonewall Inn ended in violence on Tuesday after police officers attacked demonstrators causing severe injuries. The protest was the second consecutive night of demonstrations to honor queer and people of color who have died at the hands of police.

ACT UP NY social media manager Jason Rosenberg and city council candidate Marti Gould Cummings were among those arrested and injured. Rosenberg’s arm was broken and he required multiple staples to close wounds on his head.

Both Cummings and Rosenberg were held in police custody along with other activists for approximately 11 hours. Neither were offered medical treatment or masks to prevent coronavirus.

In a video posted to Twitter after being released, a blood-covered Rosenberg described what happened and showed his still-dangling arm.

https://twitter.com/mynameisjro/status/1268058792970932224

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A little bit of history repeating....

May 31, 2020

Los Angeles Synagogue Vandalized With 'Free Palestine,' 'F-- Israel' Graffiti

A synagogue in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles was vandalized on May 30 with graffiti stating “free Palestine” and “f— Israel.”

Lisa Daftari, founder and editor of the foreign policy news outlet The Foreign Desk, first reported on the graffiti on social media.

“Synagogue Congregation Beth El on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles vandalized… Tell me this ugly hatred is still about #BLM or #GeorgeFloyd?!” she tweeted.

Jewish groups condemned the graffiti.

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May 9, 2020

NJ city councilor who went on an anti-gay rant during coronavirus meeting escapes censure

Trenton, New Jersey Councilwoman Robin Vaughn survived a council censure vote on Tuesday after audio hit the web of her calling the city’s first-ever gay Mayor Reed Gusciora a “pedophile,” “a woman,” a “b*tch *ss” during an insult fight with him and fellow City Councilman Joe Harrison on a call that was supposed to be about the city’s coronavirus response. Vaughn also told Harrison to “continue to suck Reed Gusciora’s d*ck all you want to, motherf*cker.”

While many called on Vaughn to resign in light of her homophobic comments, five out of seven council members voted against censuring her.

Concurrently, Gusciora has since had his safety threatened by Trump-supporting Twitter users — something he has reported to police — and the City Clerk Dwayne Harris has resigned after another city councilman, George Muschal, threatened to audit his office after accusing Harris of lying about the availability of funding for council aides.

In short, the entire Trenton City Council sounds absolutely bonkers.

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I am shocked. Oh wait, no I am not. Yet another case of the bigot getting defended and victim inversion. This is related to: Councilwoman says she's sorry for shouting homophobic slurs at gay mayor but she won't resign ("Sorry if you were offended" apology) and Councilwoman becomes completely unhinged in conference call, attacks city's first openly gay mayor

Homophobia is wrong....but only in certain situations.

April 21, 2020

Virtual memorial plaques projected on gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau for Holocaust Remembrance Day

Virtual memorial plaques are projected on the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau for Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 20, 2020. (Marcin Kozlowski/March of the Living)

Virtual memorial plaques were projected on to the “Arbeit Macht Frei” gates at Auschwitz-Birkenau in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

More than 10,000 of the plaques were uploaded to the March of the Living online platform, NeverMeansNever, replacing the march’s tradition of placing messages on plaques on the former concentration camp’s train tracks. The plaques illuminated the gates on Monday night, the start of Yom Hashoah.

Among the international Jewish figures who contributed plaques were Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Mayim Bialik, Natan Sharansky, ambassadors Ron Dermer and David Friedman, Isaac Herzog and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom.

Some 10,000 people from 60 countries had been scheduled to participate in March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Yom Hashoah before it was canceled due to the coronavirus crisis.

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