International Insider: Paramount Importance; Berlin Closes As Series Mania Opens; Bullying & Mental Health On The Agenda

A bill introduced in the California legislature would protect out-of-state trans youth and their families from legal action, if they come to California for gender-affirming healthcare. California State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing San Francisco, introduced the bill on Thursday, March 17.The bill would make any out-of-state judgements that aim to remove “trans kids from their parents based on parents allowing their kids to receive gender-affirming healthcare” unenforceable in California. 

On Saturday night, Greg Berlanti used his PGA acceptance speech as a platform to widely criticize the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida.

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Spencer star Kristen Stewart revealed that she almost had a cameo role in the Scream franchise.

HERAT: In the middle of a bazaar in western Afghanistan, Arezo Akrimi took out her smartphone and, after a few taps of the screen, changed some cryptocurrency for a bundle of hard cash.

Colton Underwood opened up about the future of his Netflix series Coming Out Colton.

Pixar has reportedly reinstated a same-sex kiss in the upcoming Toy Story prequel Lightyear.

Melbourne City Councillors last week took the next steps to fulfil their rainbow pledges, including setting up an LGBTQI advisory committee. A motion asking the management to provide a briefing paper on steps taken to set up an LGBTQI advisory committee, develop and implement an LGBTQI action plan and achieve Rainbow Tick accreditation for its services passed unanimously. The motion moved by Councillor Rohan Leppert and seconded by out councillor Jamal Hakim was unanimously passed by the council on March 15. The motion also noted the services and programs run by the City of Melbourne council for the LGBTQI committee.Nine out of the 11 elected Melbourne councillors had signed Victorian Pride Lobby’s Rainbow pledge before the council elections in 2020.

recently passed bill "bans 'classroom instruction' on sexual orientation or gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade and teaching 'in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.'" “We all share the same goal of a more tolerant, respectful world," Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in a memo that drew widespread criticism. "Where we may differ is in the tactics to get there.

faced backlash for anti-trans tweets before. She's disapproved the term "people who menstruate," criticized the idea that gender is a construct, and consistently shared and retweeted content that's been deemed anti-trans.

The queens battled it out on the stage during the Lip-Sync LaLaPaRuZa  Smackdown on the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14.

ABOVE: But how did gay men of that era meet without hole pics?

Chicago Sun-Times. Her body was found washed up on rocks on Thursday in Evanston, a suburb north of Chicago.Considered a major transgender rights advocate by the local LGBTQ community, Malary's disappearance sparked a significant search effort. Her 2008 Honda Accord was eventually located on Tuesday, on the same Evanston street where she was last seen, prompting police to pursue security camera footage in the area.

Gallery: Ghosts, poltergeists and spirits! You'll never believe which stars have had SUPERNATURAL experiences! (BANG Showbiz)According to The New York Post's Page Six column, Luann had been performing her song 'Money Can’t Buy You Class', and allegedly told one of the people who booed her, "f*** you”, before reportedly being ejected from the bar. Following the incident earlier this week, Luann said via a spokesperson: “I got up and sang a few Broadway songs they were playing. “I realise I was a little bit tipsy, but we were having fun, and it was getting late.

Tokyo Games in the 1500m freestyle, was third. However, Thomas, who swam for the Pennsylvanian men's team before beginning hormone replacement therapy in 2019, received a hostile reception from the crowd afterwards.Her success was greeted by a chorus of boos inside the arena, while Weynant was loudly cheered.

Republicans pledging to prevent allowing transgender women to compete on women's teams, with many Democrats embracing transgender athletes, supporting efforts to increase inclusion.However, some self-identified feminists have taken issue with Democratic support for Thomas and other transgender swimmers.A group of feminist activists protested outside the women's NCAA swimming championships on Thursday—where Thomas became the first-ever transgender NCAA Division I champion by winning the women's 500-yard-freestyle.They told Fox News the Democratic Party's support of transgender athletes makes them feel "politically homeless.""With the whole Biden election, I began to feel more and more disenfranchised from Democrats as a party, and I began to feel more and more that they did not represent my beliefs or my views," Amy Sousa, one of the protesters, told the news station.Another protester, who was not identified by name, added: "I always voted as a liberal, from 18 to 39. I registered Republican in 2020 after two politicians told me they did not want my vote because of my stance on the rights for women and girls."Still, many others have defended Thomas' inclusion on the women's team.Olympian and Stanford University swimmer Brooke Forde, who lost to Thomas, said in January she did "not have a problem racing against Lia at NCAAs this year.""I believe that treating people with respect and dignity is more important than any trophy or record will ever be," she said, adding that she has "great respect for Lia."Republican-led legislatures in various states have passed laws meant to restrict transgender athletes from competing on the team that corresponds with their gender identity.

Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a client it claims was fired from the Arboretum for adding pronouns on their name badge. Others have claimed racial and religious discrimination at the facility.

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Moving out? Amid Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney’s public split after more than 10 years together, one of their fellow Vanderpump Rules stars has addressed speculation about their living arrangements.

The Sun.Police found the body of Please, 24, in a Las Vegas apartment on March 15, days after she had been reported missing. The Clark County Medical Examiner has yet to release a cause of death.“She’d been clean from meth for over a year but she was still dabbling in party drugs,” Montalbano said. “I could tell her until I was blue in the face not to do it, and why you shouldn’t do it, but she would just hide it from me and I didn’t want her to do that.”Ketamine is a popular dissociative used as a party drug.

Dancing on Ice judges Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean are calling on the Olympics to follow the show’s example and allow same-sex partnerships to compete.In 2020, Dancing on Ice beat Strictly Come Dancing to open its doors to a first same-sex partnership with Ian ‘H’ Watkins from Steps and his professional partner Matt Evers.In the current series, Brendan Cole ended up partnered with Brendyn Hatfield when his skating pro Vanessa Bauer was forced to miss a week after testing positive for Covid.The moment was a celebrated move for Dancing on Ice and did wonders for LGBT representation on screen.Jayne and Christopher, however, would like to see the same progress at Olympics figure skating contests. ‘Well, if it’s on Dancing On Ice, yes, anything is possible,’ enthused Jayne.Chris added: ‘Who’s to say in a few years time that could change because there’s actually a shortage of male figure skaters.‘So you might have to have same sex female skaters skating together.‘All organisations are now open to diversity and inclusion.

Dame Joan Collins has recalled a shocking ordeal when she had a bread roll viciously thrown at her while she was at a private members' club.The 88 year old actress said the "frightening" confrontation caused the roll-thrower to be banned for life, while the person she was a guest of had their membership suspended. Joan revealed the incident, which took place at Chelsea Arts Club, happened earlier this year.The exact date or time of the incident is not known.The woman was said to be "swaying" and "not making any sense" when she approached Joan, who was sat at a table with friends for her former PR Stella Wilson's birthday. Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK!'s daily newsletter.

got thrown out of a gay bar, Matt Bomer and Bradley Cooper headed toward an on-screen romance, and Jussie Smollett worked his way out of jail. Here’s what happened on Instagram:Nyle DiMarco stayed ready.  A post shared by Nyle DiMarco (@nyledimarco)Chris Salvatore stretched.  A post shared by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore)Conor McGregor carried weight.  A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)Andrés Camilo dropped his pants.  A post shared by Andrés Camilo (@andrescamilo___)Tan France had coffee in bed.  A post shared by T A N .

Grindr has been trending on Twitter over the last 24 hours as people discuss the subject of screenshots.To support privacy, Grindr and other apps allow people to send photos that disappear after a few seconds. On some apps nowadays, it’s not possible to take screenshots of these photos.

Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a re-watch.The world lost a great actor with the passing of William Hurt last week. Hurt, known for his roles in The Big Chill, Children of a Lesser God, Body Heat, and Broadcast News had proven himself one of America’s most reliable talents. He also made history as one of the few actors to score a trifecta of Best Actor Oscar nominations in three consecutive years.For Hurt at his best, and for one of the most debated queer characters in the history of movies, we look toward his Oscar-winning performance in 1985’s Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.The library has also purchased copies of a more recent 2005 picture book And Tango Makes Three, which tells the story of two male penguins that raise a chick together. The book is based off true events that took place in New York City's Central Park Zoo, but according to the American Library Association, has become one of the most banned books in the country due to its same-sex theme."We are buying banned books in order to publicly push back against the impetus to ban books.

Bosacker told The Star Tribune. “I wanted to leave the court, to just leave my body at some points.”New Ulm later claimed it had punished the player in question for his behavior, though it did not disclose any details to the public.And still, it got worse. Last week, St.

Cuando volví a casa del hospital, mi madre y mi padre se turnaban cada noche para sentarse en mi cama y asegurarse de que seguía respirando. Mi madre apoyaba su cabeza en mi pecho y rezaba una oración. Mi padre me susurraba al oído “te quiero” y me acariciaba la mejilla.

BenDeLaCreme (a/k/a “DeLa”) is all dolled up in white, frilly swatches of material and looking to tie the knot, but with whom?That’s the impetus behind DeLa’s new show, Ready To Be Committed, which is described as “a limited engagement about the limitations of engagements.” Her tour of U.S. cities starts next month, then leads into the UK and Canada.DeLa is the “terminally delightful” queen who was on season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, then the third season of Drag Race All-Stars. DeLa notoriously pulled out of the latter, eliminating herself because she’d already proven her worth and knew the other girls wanted to win more than she did.

Olympics before transitioning in 2015, told Fox News' Sean Hannity that she doesn't think transgender women should participate in women's sports amid the continuing debate around Thomas.Thomas became the first-ever transgender NCAA Division I champion after winning the women's 500-yard freestyle on Thursday, with her appearance at the championships generating protests and outrage from parents, fellow athletes and conservative figures.Thomas, who finished more than a second ahead of second-placed Emma Weyant, was able to compete after following NCAA rules, including taking mandatory testosterone tests and undergoing hormone therapy for at least 12 months.Speaking to Hannity, Jenner suggested that Thomas still had an unfair advantage over the other competitors, but admitted that there is not "one answer that fits everything" with regards to the debate on trans women competing in sports."I've never been against Lia Thomas, she actually played within the rules. Was it fair? No, it wasn't fair, it's not a fair fight.

In the short span of her career, Madison Beer has weathered enough “controversies” and speculations for a lifetime. Between being misinterpreted as seemingly romanticizing Lolita, fielding baseless accusations that she allegedly staged a photoshoot at a Los Angeles protest following the killing of George Floyd, or facing rumors of lying about plastic surgery, she’s definitely been put through the wringer. But still, the “Dear Society” singer continues to remain open and honest about her struggles with her mental health and the rigors of fame.

MailOnline reported that the drunken female was thrown out of the venue and the male member she was with had his membership suspended.It was also reported that the incident took place earlier on in the year – although a date or time is not publicly known. The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members club that can only be joined via application.Like many other exclusive venues, many people are unable to join because your application needs to be supported by a recommendation from existing members.Non-members are allowed to visit but this is only possible if they are invited by a member.If you reside within 30 miles of Charing Cross and your application is successful, an annual membership will set you back £650.

Just Like Us, a charity for young gay, queer and trans people.‘We make sure that everyone feels safe in that environment and everyone is able to speak, and share their story as, of course, we not only have LGBT+ students joining but allies too,’ she told Metro.co.uk.‘If they are interested in attending, they send an email to our Pride address and they I direct them to where we meet, so that we do not disclose the exact place to try and protect that confidentiality.‘It takes a lot for some of them to walk through those doors. So, they know that nothing is going to get passed on unless there is a safeguarding concern.‘Generally, we just play games and have a chit-chat.

An LGBTQ “conversion” app, created by the Malaysian Government, has been removed from Google Play after it was found to violate Google Play guidelines.According to the Independent, the app falsely claims to help the LGBTQ community “return to the right path.”The app also included a 146-page e-book about the “true experience of a gay man who migrated during Ramadan to abandon homosexual behaviour.”In a statement to the Guardian, Google said, “Whenever an app is flagged to us, we investigate against our Play store policies and if violations are found we take appropriate action to maintain a trusted experience for all.”According to Human Rights Watch, “successive governments in Malaysia have employed anti-LGBT rhetoric as a political tool, calling on LGBT people to ‘change’ their gender identity or sexual orientation to ‘return to the right path’ or risk retribution.”This is not the first LGBTQ conversion app removed by Google Play.

(Image via Shawn Mendes)

Fans were quick to comment on Joan’s post and send their well wishes.Among them was Catherine Zeta Jones. The actress wrote: “I dare you!!!!!!” Missfamenyc also said: “Yessss.”Stacey_Garvey31 penned: “The kartrashians don’t even come near your league QUEEN!”Alongside four flame emojis, Victoriasmurfit wrote: “Amen.”Joan is an actress best known for her roles as provocative female characters, most notably as manipulative seductress Alexis Carrington in soap opera Dynasty. In December, Joan spoke up about her feelings during the first COVID-19 lockdown. She explained that she felt there was nothing she could do as she addressed her weight gain over the course of the pandemic. Joan spent the first few months of the lockdown in London.Following the easing of travel restrictions, she moved house with husband Percy Gibson. She said she became frustrated with the intense restrictions, and decided to move to her home in the South of France instead.Speaking to the Daily Mail in December, the actress said: "I found London difficult because I felt like I was in jail, not knowing when I was going to get out.”She admitted that at first, she spent a "ridiculous" amount of time watching TV and added that she gained weight as a result of excessive eating and sitting down.Joan continued: "Of course I was [in tracksuits] weren’t we all?“I gained about half a stone.“I was eating as much as possible because aside from drinking bottles of wine and polishing off chocolates – what else was there to do?"

“The only thing I knew was that I loved to sing,” said Alexandra Grey of her first time on stage in a school production of Once on This Island. Nearly two decades later, the 31-year-old actress, known for her recurring roles on Empire and MacGyver and co-starring in two feature films currently in production, finally returns to the stage in a concert revival of The Life at New York City Center.Directed by Billy Porter and co-starring Ledisi along with a roster of Broadway’s best, Grey’s professional stage debut is overdue — a dream discarded long ago after a childhood of foster homes, abuse, and family disownment. But if there’s one thing that Grey has in common with the character of Queen, a transgender sex worker fighting to get off the streets, it’s resilience.“For so long, you know, I didn’t even have time to dream about this,” Grey told INTO by phone the day after The Life’s opening night.

take gold at the Division I women's swimming championship.Thomas, a transwoman, who now swims for the University of Pennsylvania women's team, spent three seasons on the men's team before starting hormone treatment. Although Thomas passed all of the NCAA's rules for trans competitors, including 12 months of testosterone suppression, many are speaking out against Thomas' victory claiming it's unfair for the biological women she competes against.Thomas placed first in the 500-yard freestyle competition with a time of 4:33.24. Her victory has sparked backlash on social media.Crenshaw took to Twitter Friday posting a picture of Thomas and her fellow competitors with the caption, "NCAA should be ashamed of itself."NCAA should be ashamed of itself.

a bill went through last week that allocates funding for HIV testing, prevention, treatment, and research programs for areas in the U.S. most impacted by the virus.

cut by the Las Vegas Raiders this week. He was released, according to the Raiders, for salary cap reasons.

Lightyear, a release from Disney’s Pixar subsidiary.The animated film, billed as an origin story for the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear, features a female colleague of Lightyear’s, Hawthorne (pictured), who is in a romantic relationship with a woman. A source told Variety that a kiss between the couple had been cut from the film but was put back in last week following the uproar over the company’s record.“According to multiple former Pixar employees who spoke with Variety on the condition of anonymity, creatives within the studio have tried for years to incorporate LGBTQ identity into its storytelling in ways big and small, only to have those efforts consistently thwarted,” the publication reports.After the initial criticism of Disney leaders for not speaking out against the “don’t say gay” bill in Florida, where the company is a major employer, CEO Bob Chapek sent a memo to staff saying, “The biggest impact we can have in creating a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create here, and the diverse community organizations we support, including those representing the LGBTQ+ community.”Pixar workers then said the content isn’t so inclusive.

The Violence Against Women Act, reauthorized in the spending bill signed into law Tuesday by President Joe Biden, for the first time includes a grant program designed to aid LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Photo: iStock.

JK Rowling has accused Sir Keir Starmer of misrepresenting equalities law, claiming Labour can ‘no longer be counted on to defend women’s rights.’Sir Keir told The Times that ‘trans women are women’ according to statute in the UK, and called for a more ‘considered, respectful, tolerant debate’ about gender.But Rowling said he had misrepresented the law, which she said indicated ‘the Labour Party can no longer be counted on to defend women’s rights.’Sharing an article on Twitter about a Tory police and crime commissioner reportedly reprimanded for her comments on gender issues, she said: ‘I don’t think our politicians have the slightest idea how much anger is building among women from all walks of life at the attempts to threaten and intimidate them out of speaking publicly about their own rights, their own bodies and their own lives.‘Among the thousands of letters and emails I’ve received are disillusioned members of Labour, the Greens, the Lib Dems and the SNP. Women are scared, outraged and angry at the deaf ear turned to their well-founded concerns.

Senate hearing regarding proposed transgender-based legislation in multiple levels of athletics recently led to a heated back-and-forth between a senator and a trans rights advocate.Missouri Senate Bill No. 781, also known as the "Save Women's Sports Act," is the latest proposed national transgender-based legislation that would affect athletics at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels.A video posted as part of a tweet from the Human Rights Campaign showed a detailed exchange between trans rights advocate Avery Jackson, 14, and Republican State Senator Elaine Gannon.

In case anyone ever needed an argument in favor of making superhero costumes out of spandex–or perhaps an argument against it too–Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield has provided both.Garfield, 38, stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to discuss some of his recent acting projects, including his Oscar-nominated performance in tick…tick…BOOM! The pair also got onto the subject of his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which he played opposite current Spider-Man Tom Holland and former Spider-Man Tobey Maguire.According to Garfield, before the three even shot their scenes together, Marvel Studios asked them to do a photoshoot recreating an infamous meme. The image in question shows three versions of Spider-Man pointing at one another.

The United Kingdom continued a long tradition of anti-LGBTQ action as bans on gay marriage in the UK’s territories of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda were upheld by the country’s Privy Council, the highest appeals court for many UK Caribbean territories.The Privy Council upheld existing bans on marriage equality in both the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, citing the fact that same-sex nuptials are explicitly banned under their respective, independent constitutions.According to PinkNews, both the Cayman Islands and Bermuda have legalized — and subsequently re-criminalized — gay marriage.In the Cayman Islands, gay marriage was temporarily legalized in March 2019 after a lesbian couple sued to have their marriage recognized by the government. But authorities appealed the lower court’s decision, resulting in a reversal – although the appeals court said that the government had to provide “legal status equivalent to marriage” for same-sex couples.The couple then appealed to the Privy Council, which sided with the appeals court in upholding the ban.In Bermuda, the government legalized gay marriage in May 2017 in response to an ongoing legal battle, but the government later recriminalized the practice in 2018 before once again legalizing it that same year.

Two transgender men and one trans woman have sued the state of Oklahoma over its efforts to block them from amending the gender on their birth certificates.The lawsuit, filed in federal court by Lambda Legal on behalf of Tulsa residents Rowan Fowler, Allister Hall, and a Creek County resident who chose to remain anonymous, using the initials C.R., alleges that the three faced intentional discrimination “on the basis of [their] transgender status” when they were barred from changing the gender marker on their birth certificate to align with their gender identity.The lawsuit names Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Keith Reed, and registrar of vital records Kelly Baker as defendants in the lawsuit.The prohibition on amending gender markers was imposed by Stitt after he issued an executive order banning the practice. Stitt issued the order in response to outrage from his fellow Republicans after the state’s Department of Health complied with a judge’s order and approved an amended birth certificate with a nonbinary gender marker.The original plaintiff in the case leading to that decision, Kit Lorelied, had sued after being denied the right to have their correct gender reflected on their birth certificate, as trans and nonbinary individuals are currently able to do in 17 states and the District of Columbia.Stitt has since urged the state legislature to ban “nonbinary gender markers” on vital documents — a proposal that is currently being considered by the state’s senate.

Miami New Times reports. He says he did so after the man stole his wallet."I was a victim and I have nothing to hide but I cannot comment on an open investigation," Reyes told the outlet.