Andy is Joined by Guest Co-Host Chris Cooper (in for Ann) | Gay USA 6/3/2026
Andy is Joined by Guest Co-Host Chris Cooper (in for Ann) | Gay USA 6/3/2026
Transcript
Follow along using the transcript.
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And we have to really escalate the noise we make so that we'll be heard.0:15
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Welcome to Gay USA. I'm Andy Hum and I am joined today by Chris Cooper filling in for Anne Northrup.0:38
38 seconds
Welcome, Chris. Good to have you back. Thank you, Andy. Birding season over.0:42
42 seconds
Birding season is pretty much wrapped up. Yes. So I can be human again.0:46
46 seconds
Okay. and we can wish you all a happy LGBTQ Pride Month or as I like to say, happy Christopher Street Liberation0:54
54 seconds
Month. All right, so in the news, we got a great federal court decision about transgender service members. Judge1:02
1 minute, 2 seconds
ordering 28 of them for now being reinstated. The White House is banning grants to pro-LGBTQ organizations and1:09
1 minute, 9 seconds
generally trying to make all grants and funding go through their political appointees.1:14
1 minute, 14 seconds
On uh LGBTQ candidates advance in California in the US House primaries.1:21
1 minute, 21 seconds
Republicans
are piling on with every schoolyard bully insult they can come up with
for James Talerico, the Democratic nominee in for the Senate in Texas.1:32
1 minute, 32 seconds
And that includes Trump.1:33
1 minute, 33 seconds
It does. the we told you about that censored uh Watertown Wisconsin high school symphony. Well, they're going to1:41
1 minute, 41 seconds
get another big they got another big venue to play their concert piece about the Stonewall. And meanwhile in uh New1:48
1 minute, 48 seconds
York
State and New York City, um they've managed not to come through with
funds to help trans youth whose funds have been under assault by the
federal1:56
1 minute, 56 seconds
government. Andy and I will have words about that. What's wrong with the New York movement?2:01
2 minutes, 1 second
Uh uh Moren Duffy who was a pioneering uh lesbian writer and activist in the United Kingdom has and I say pioneering2:09
2 minutes, 9 seconds
I mean like the first out lesbian basically uh dies at the age of 92.2:14
2 minutes, 14 seconds
Meanwhile in Russia they're prosecuting a 13-year-old boy for LGBT propaganda and extremism.2:24
2 minutes, 24 seconds
And Ghana is following the example of places like Uganda and passed a bill making it a crime to identify as gay.2:35
2 minutes, 35 seconds
All
right, get ready to unblock your hears your ears because you're hearing
me correctly. Louisiana, yes, Louisiana has reformed its HIV uh
criminalization2:44
2 minutes, 44 seconds
law and Florida, however, has u no actually also good news from Florida.2:49
2 minutes, 49 seconds
It's reversed its HIV and AIDS cuts. I know, unplug your ears. You heard it here first.2:55
2 minutes, 55 seconds
The Tony Awards on Sunday promised to be more LGBTQ than ever if that is possible.3:01
3 minutes, 1 second
And
Andy will review Jerome, a new gay play, an AIDS themed play starring
Steven Spanella. And if there's time, I'll give you a few words about uh
the3:10
3 minutes, 10 seconds
new
version of August Wilson's play Joe Turner Come and Gone on Joan
Turner's Come and Gone on Broad. Eager to hear your review. I'm sorry I
didn't get to3:18
3 minutes, 18 seconds
see it. I'm sorry I didn't get invited to see it. Uh so happy Pride Month. The commemorative marches and parades are in3:25
3 minutes, 25 seconds
full swing. Here's a pic from the 10th annual Brighton Beach Pride in Brooklyn there in the shadow of Coney Island3:33
3 minutes, 33 seconds
Amusements.
And on the heart of the Russian community in Brighton, organized by
LGBTQR Russian immigrants and the group Caravan. You might notice on the3:42
3 minutes, 42 seconds
picture
there on the left, there's the president of the American Federation of
Teachers, Randy Weingarten, and her wife there in the center, Rabbi
Sharon3:50
3 minutes, 50 seconds
Kleinbound. and the parade co-founder Yolena Goldzman.3:54
3 minutes, 54 seconds
And
it's particularly hard for that pride to keep going because so many in
the community are immigrants and they fear for their status under the
the current regime.4:04
4 minutes, 4 seconds
That's why people go out and march in solidarity with them and veteran activist Rick Glman was with them. All4:11
4 minutes, 11 seconds
right. So, I I have never heard of this, but in East Central uh wait a minute, in Pine City, Minnesota, in Voyagers Park,4:20
4 minutes, 20 seconds
they dedicated a plaque to the East Central Purple the Well, excuse me, the East Purple Circle4:28
4 minutes, 28 seconds
dedicated a plaque. This was the first rural pride event in 2005 that they're commemorating. If you have4:37
4 minutes, 37 seconds
if somebody out there wants to say you did one earlier, let us know. And they uh uh celebrated this uh anniversary4:44
4 minutes, 44 seconds
with a modest uh picnic in the park. All right. Uh 100 people came out for that. And Pine City has a gay mayor.4:54
4 minutes, 54 seconds
There you go. Uh you know, Minnesota can be a great place to live. Um doing a quick roundup of prides. Well, how about Kansas?5:03
5 minutes, 3 seconds
Uh okay. You want to go to Kansas?5:04
5 minutes, 4 seconds
Well,
just that Laura Kelly, the governor there, signed a proclamation of
Gilbert Baker Day on June 2nd. You gave me this story. I did for the
creator of the rainbow flag. I5:13
5 minutes, 13 seconds
did not know that uh Gilbert was from Parsons, Kansas.5:17
5 minutes, 17 seconds
I
didn't know that either because I always saw him in the East Village
every every ceremony and they realize they don't have a flag. [laughter]5:25
5 minutes, 25 seconds
So So the governor goes into her office and finds a flag and a book uh called No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism5:33
5 minutes, 33 seconds
from LGBTQ Canvas with rainbow stripes on the cover. And on on a personal note, I have to say I always favor the rainbow5:40
5 minutes, 40 seconds
flag and not the progress pride flag just because it to me the rainbow is inclusive already of everybody and its5:47
5 minutes, 47 seconds
graphic simplicity is so beautiful and the progress pride flag is actually I think a registered trademark by some guy.5:54
5 minutes, 54 seconds
There
are issues with it but I Gilbert and I too would say let a thousand
flags bloom. Yeah, that's just my personal choices is the original
rainbow flag.6:05
6 minutes, 5 seconds
Doing a quick round nationalist.6:07
6 minutes, 7 seconds
I I am in a quick roundup of prides. Um, in Connecticut, Ned Lamont, Illinois's Governor JB Pritsker, Kucky's Andy6:15
6 minutes, 15 seconds
Basher,
Maine's Janet Mills, Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, New York's Kathy
Hokll, North Carolina's Josh Stein, a Democrat, Rhode Island's Dan McKe,6:24
6 minutes, 24 seconds
Wisconsin's Tony Evers, and in Guam, Governor Lordes Lang Guerrero, and also the US Conference of Mayors, Google with6:33
6 minutes, 33 seconds
a disco ball doodle, and Sesame Street all celebrated Pride Month. But well, Guam is a bit of a surprise. We we6:40
6 minutes, 40 seconds
didn't get Ronda Santis, I guess, at the [laughter] We did not get Ronda Sant Ronda Santis.6:46
6 minutes, 46 seconds
However, in Utah, Governor Spencer Cox and also in Arkansas, Sarah Huckabe Sanders both declared fidelity month,6:54
6 minutes, 54 seconds
while Governor Kel to what?6:57
6 minutes, 57 seconds
It would be nice if it were fidelity to the Constitution.7:00
7 minutes
While Governor K. Ivy in Alabama declared strong families months month.7:06
7 minutes, 6 seconds
And in Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee declared nuclear family month, which was echoed in a since deleted post by7:13
7 minutes, 13 seconds
Tennessee's US House Rep. Andy Auggles, who also added in that in that tweet, "Homosex homosexuality has no place in7:22
7 minutes, 22 seconds
America." He deleted it when he got push back from George Santos. We can't get rid of that guy.7:30
7 minutes, 30 seconds
He's being investigated by the DOJ.7:32
7 minutes, 32 seconds
Yeah. For insider trading. We'll see where that goes. Well, uh, so let pride bloom everywhere. So, in a move that,7:40
7 minutes, 40 seconds
uh, okay, so the Trump administration policy that illegally banned transgender troops from military service, right? Uh,7:49
7 minutes, 49 seconds
that has been overturned by a a three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals.7:55
7 minutes, 55 seconds
And
they basic on different grounds from the last case that was decided on
this which also overturned it but then the Supreme Court let it go into
effect8:04
8 minutes, 4 seconds
because they're saying uh Roger Wilkins the judge said it appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically8:12
8 minutes, 12 seconds
unpopular group persons who identify as transgender. It's animous and you can't base things which obviously Hegth does8:20
8 minutes, 20 seconds
on hate. So, the way they've structured the ruling, it it doesn't allow them to boot uh existing service trans uh8:29
8 minutes, 29 seconds
service members who are trans or at least 28 of them.8:31
8 minutes, 31 seconds
But it well, it does allow them to prevent enlistment of uh for now of further trans uh8:39
8 minutes, 39 seconds
service members. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegth has vowed to appeal this all the way to the Supreme Court. Well, he's8:47
8 minutes, 47 seconds
he's not just vowing, but he's disproportionately targeting women and uh people of color in the military for uh8:56
8 minutes, 56 seconds
appointments for, you know, Yeah. And this isn't his first time.8:59
8 minutes, 59 seconds
This
isn't his first time sticking his fingers in, but what he's done is he
has uh blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers who had been
selected by a9:08
9 minutes, 8 seconds
board
of senior uh Navy admirals. And this is apparently extraordinarily
unusual. Um there are actually rules governing promote uh uh uh
governing9:17
9 minutes, 17 seconds
promotions so that they remain, you know, neutral. And Pete Hex doesn't care because he's got an agenda which is to make sure9:24
9 minutes, 24 seconds
because he is a scumbag. We're allowed to say that [laughter] here on free speech. He is one of the worst people in the world.9:31
9 minutes, 31 seconds
They think this is their way to to make it seem like we're fighting DEI.9:36
9 minutes, 36 seconds
Yep. Well, and of course denying themselves the service of so many valuable people. Uh the White House is9:44
9 minutes, 44 seconds
now going to exert more control over all government grants, putting them in the hands of political people who will make9:52
9 minutes, 52 seconds
sure whoever gets a grant, this is a 400page blueprint for this. Whoever gets a grant has to align with the goals of10:00
10 minutes
the administration. And one of the issues is that you can't give money to groups that deny the biological reality10:09
10 minutes, 9 seconds
of sex or the sex binary in humans. Uh it also go of course they're going after10:16
10 minutes, 16 seconds
DEI and uh those things. If I remember correctly, this scheme of theirs, which is to sort of shift um where the10:26
10 minutes, 26 seconds
approval
for the grants comes from um and therefore it will fall under political
appointees that this is the brainchild of the guy who came up with
project 2025. Yes.10:36
10 minutes, 36 seconds
So he is really wreaking serious damage to our country.10:39
10 minutes, 39 seconds
And
the chief of executive of the American Public Health Association said
it could devastate innovation, science, and research in the United
States. We're10:48
10 minutes, 48 seconds
just I mean everything he does is is about essentially killing off the United States. You think we'd want to celebrate10:55
10 minutes, 55 seconds
after
250 years. We survived that long, but we're not going to survive much
longer. Listen, the way things are going, the Trump presidency may be
the greatest secret op of Putin uh ever ever devised.11:08
11 minutes, 8 seconds
Sure. I mean, the guy you put in for the intelligence, this this Oh my goodness. The mortgage guy.11:14
11 minutes, 14 seconds
The
mortgage guy in charge of intelligence. But put and even the
Republicans are rebelling at that. But it's an interim appointment so he
can do it right through the elections11:23
11 minutes, 23 seconds
and his whole purpose is just to gather dirt on Trump's enemies while the the United States remains undefended. So11:31
11 minutes, 31 seconds
when
I call him the mortgage guy for those who don't understand, he was in
he is still in charge of Fanny May and Freddy Mack. So he's approving,
you11:40
11 minutes, 40 seconds
know,
the mortgage process. He weaponized that to go after people like
Leticia James. He's the one who came up with the whole scheme of, oh,
let's11:48
11 minutes, 48 seconds
charge
Leticia James with mortgage fraud. Um, which of course half the people
in the administration had done exactly half of his own relatives11:56
11 minutes, 56 seconds
had
done exactly the same thing. So, it was completely fabricated. So, he's
for his loyalty to Trump. He has now been put in charge of national
intelligence when he has no experience whatsoever.12:07
12 minutes, 7 seconds
The,
you know, and you know who's going to pay the pay the price? Us in New
York. Cuz you know who's the biggest target in the country for for
terrorism?12:14
12 minutes, 14 seconds
It's insane. [clears throat] Sorry, we're getting agitated.12:17
12 minutes, 17 seconds
There was a judge who ordered Trump's name off the Kennedy Center and his name was Chris Cooper. [laughter] Yes,12:26
12 minutes, 26 seconds
he was Christopher Cooper. You're Christian Cooper. That's okay. I'll claim him.12:30
12 minutes, 30 seconds
Uh Trump's lawsuit against the IRS that he settled with himself. Of of course, they say they're abandoning the payoffs12:36
12 minutes, 36 seconds
to his to his friends, but uh it also involves $und00 million gift to the Trump family. No more audits, but it has12:44
12 minutes, 44 seconds
been reopened by a federal judge because it it's it's it's selfdealing. That's all it is.12:52
12 minutes, 52 seconds
Um uh before we leave Washington, um and talk about election news, I just wanted to mention, uh Freedom 250 concert in13:01
13 minutes, 1 second
DC, which got a lot of a lot of cancellations, including uh who is it?13:05
13 minutes, 5 seconds
Uh
Brett Michaels. Uh who, uh okay, viewers, please pardon my ignorance. I
have no idea who the guy is, but whoever he is, he's not coming.13:14
13 minutes, 14 seconds
He's poison. That's his group. Oh, okay. Well, well, it's collapsing. Um, there's been several pull outs.13:21
13 minutes, 21 seconds
Look at all the cancellations. Well, so the whole thing has been cancelled now.13:24
13 minutes, 24 seconds
Well, yes, but still still in at the time before they pulled the plug on the whole thing were Vanilla Ice and half of13:32
13 minutes, 32 seconds
lip-syncing
Millie Vanilli. So, uh, yeah, it was going to be a real, uh,
barnstormer kind of concert that, uh, So, now Trump is going to give us
what13:41
13 minutes, 41 seconds
he calls the number one attraction anywhere in the world himself. It's just going to be a Trump rally.13:48
13 minutes, 48 seconds
I'm not even sure if they're still sticking with that, but we'll see.13:51
13 minutes, 51 seconds
Okay. By the way, Elon Musk has confirmed that he bought Twitter to get back at his transdaughter, that he13:58
13 minutes, 58 seconds
wanted to use it to go after Vivian Jenna uh, Wilson. uh and uh no, sorry, her name.14:08
14 minutes, 8 seconds
Well, apparently what had happened is that there was some uh anti-trans post on Twitter that got a community note um14:16
14 minutes, 16 seconds
because
it violated pol the policies. So Elon Musk didn't want to have that
happening anymore. So that's why he bought Twitter. He said that Viven,
his14:25
14 minutes, 25 seconds
daughter,
who has is estranged from him obviously, was murdered by the woke mind
vi virus and now it will die along with our democracy.14:36
14 minutes, 36 seconds
All
right, election news. All right, so first of all, in California, in a
place I spend a lot of time these days, Palm Springs, um is included in
this14:45
14 minutes, 45 seconds
district. Um, Moy von Wilpert won the Democratic primary um for what used to14:52
14 minutes, 52 seconds
be Daryl Isa's Isa's, excuse me, Daryl Isa's seat. Um, Daryl Isa is a monster.14:57
14 minutes, 57 seconds
Um,
very anti-gay. He is retiring because his his new district doesn't give
him a a chance in snowballs chance in hell of winning. Um, so put you
put15:06
15 minutes, 6 seconds
that picture up of Barney and and Jim Desmond who was the second place. Excuse me. He's first place. He's a Republican15:13
15 minutes, 13 seconds
and
he got [snorts] 42% of the vote. She got 20% of the vote, but she
bested all the Democrats, right? Presumably now the rest of the15:22
15 minutes, 22 seconds
Democratic vote will funnel funnel to her. Would be 58% of the vote. Sure. So that's the hope.15:28
15 minutes, 28 seconds
So congratulations to Marne in San Francisco. In the race for Nancy Pelos's se seat, out Scott Weiner came out on15:37
15 minutes, 37 seconds
top with 41% and the Pelosi endorsed Connie Chan was second with 29%. They have to face off in November. Meanwhile,15:46
15 minutes, 46 seconds
outgay Robert Garcia of Long Beach will likely now have the reactionary anti-LGBTQ town of Huntington Beach in his15:54
15 minutes, 54 seconds
district. Um, that's a plan, a town that bans the display of pride flags. He got 52% of the vote in his open primary16:02
16 minutes, 2 seconds
and he will face off with a Republican in November. Excuse me. All right. In Iowa, in the Democratic primary for US16:11
16 minutes, 11 seconds
Senate, Zack Walls, who's a state senator who gained fame at 19 when he delivered a speech to Iowa State House16:18
16 minutes, 18 seconds
about his experience being raised by lesbian mothers. I remember that speech.16:22
16 minutes, 22 seconds
Very famous. But he lost pretty big to state representative Josh Turk uh Trekk the Democratic establishment pick.16:31
16 minutes, 31 seconds
That's okay. It's a good start for Zach.16:32
16 minutes, 32 seconds
He just needs to keep plugging at it. Um meanwhile in Texas, all right, so we all know that James Tarico became the16:41
16 minutes, 41 seconds
Democratic nominee. Well, what we also now know is that Ken Paxton, who our viewers know all too well for all his16:49
16 minutes, 49 seconds
monstrous deeds, um became the Republican nominee. And that has the Republicans scared because they gave16:55
16 minutes, 55 seconds
away an also conservative incumbent uh uh Republican senator for this guy who's so far to the right. People are17:04
17 minutes, 4 seconds
like, you know what's going to happen here? What do you And it's a tight race.17:07
17 minutes, 7 seconds
And it's a tight race. So what do they do? They pile on with schoolyard bully insults. So, for example, uh uh Paxton17:16
17 minutes, 16 seconds
quickly said that um uh James Terico was too low tea for Texas. Um they I forget.17:25
17 minutes, 25 seconds
Oh, I think it was um oh that that uh Voldemort um guy in the administration.17:31
17 minutes, 31 seconds
Steven Miller. Yes, Steven Miller said that he was transgender. the first transgender nominee.17:37
17 minutes, 37 seconds
They're calling him Tofu Telerico, sixgender Jimmy James Telico, which has led the Telerico campaign to put Teler17:45
17 minutes, 45 seconds
Terafrico t-shirts on. It reminds me of lesbian Avengers when they were accused of being that back in the day. So, it17:53
17 minutes, 53 seconds
that's the that's the way they're going to go with this.17:56
17 minutes, 56 seconds
But Terico had a great response and I I want to find it exactly so I can I can read it to you. Let's see if I can.18:02
18 minutes, 2 seconds
Well, while you're doing that, he did walk back some of his remarks in a in a TV interview. He said some of his past18:10
18 minutes, 10 seconds
statements
had missed the mark or been cringey. I know there are two sexes, men
and women. He said, I also know there's a small percentage of people who
have18:19
18 minutes, 19 seconds
these chromosome chromosonal abnormalities. That's not a good way to put it. And I believe they18:26
18 minutes, 26 seconds
deserve
to be treated with dignity and respect. Well, what he did say in
response to the whole, "Oh my god, you're a vegan," or whatever, which
he18:34
18 minutes, 34 seconds
isn't, he said, "I'm an eighth generation Texan. I've been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton's first18:41
18 minutes, 41 seconds
indictment." Very good. Uh Trump seems to believe that Telerico actually is transgender.18:49
18 minutes, 49 seconds
Uh [laughter] the he calls him the this transgender, this guy running in Texas, he wears a mask all the time. He's a18:56
18 minutes, 56 seconds
disaster.
I think Ken Paxton's going to destroy him. Well, no matter who wins,
Republicans are going to have to spend a lot of money if they want to
get Ken19:04
19 minutes, 4 seconds
Paxton elected, which is great because it siphons their ability to spend the money elsewhere in in other states.19:11
19 minutes, 11 seconds
All right. Six California families are asking a federal court to stop the Trump administration's DOJ from issu using a19:19
19 minutes, 19 seconds
grand jury subpoena issued 1500 miles away in Texas to seize the children's confidential medical records from a19:27
19 minutes, 27 seconds
hospital
in Stanford. Uh it it it goes on and on and there's a bunch of lawsuits
around this this fishing expedition that the administration is on19:36
19 minutes, 36 seconds
using
courts that are thousands of miles away. Yeah, if I'm if I remember
correctly, they had tried some other means to get this and got rebuffed
and19:45
19 minutes, 45 seconds
so now the subpoena is a way to try and go around that and it's it's it's it's really malicious.19:51
19 minutes, 51 seconds
We all have to be concerned about this that they can get your records. I mean, you're which are supposed to be confidential.19:58
19 minutes, 58 seconds
All right. Um well also uh while we're talking about trans news um in Mississippi, there was a young transman20:05
20 minutes, 5 seconds
who became the salutatoran at his high school graduation. Um he'd been misgendered and deadnamed by the school.20:13
20 minutes, 13 seconds
Um they photoshopped his mustache allegedly.20:16
20 minutes, 16 seconds
Well, that is that is him on the left there.20:19
20 minutes, 19 seconds
Yes. And uh uh they photo photoshopped his his mustache allegedly to make him look more feminine in his yearbook20:26
20 minutes, 26 seconds
photo. had to endure being called young lady and yet he still shown uh and rose to become the salatoran of his uh high20:35
20 minutes, 35 seconds
school.
Um and one of the things he said was quite graciously I hold no grudge
against those who were so quick to criticize me because I know it's not
the20:43
20 minutes, 43 seconds
desired feeling. We as people tend to groove others into boxes and our feelings reflect that bias even if we20:50
20 minutes, 50 seconds
don't realize it. So good for you Jonas Hull. That's his name. were they were unbelievably cruel to him.20:58
20 minutes, 58 seconds
All right, New York. Now, this is New York. We got nothing to brag about. The the NYCLU says that the state budget21:06
21 minutes, 6 seconds
just
passed fails to meet the moment for trans New Yorkers. Now, we know all
these funds are getting cut off from the Trump administration to do
trans care or21:15
21 minutes, 15 seconds
they're forbidding people to do it. And the state and the city need to come through with the funding to get it done.21:22
21 minutes, 22 seconds
and
and it's not getting done in New York, right? And a lot of it is just
outright bullying tactics because it doesn't have the force of law. A
lot of it are21:31
21 minutes, 31 seconds
executive
orders from Trump where he's saying, "Oh, you know, we'll cut off funds
if you continue continue to provide gender- affirming care." Now, that
can be fought in court and probably21:39
21 minutes, 39 seconds
quite successfully, but everyone's scared. They don't want to be caught up in court cases.21:44
21 minutes, 44 seconds
Shouldn't
be scared in New York, and it's disgraceful. And while running for
office, Mayor Mani made a pledge. If elected, he would immediately
commit $6521:53
21 minutes, 53 seconds
million in the budget to a expand access to gender affirming care, particularly for young people. And he is not doing22:02
22 minutes, 2 seconds
that. He's maybe he's saying there's $15 million in the in the current budget to maybe do it, but I'm still not getting22:11
22 minutes, 11 seconds
over
and I've written to the press office. Where are trans youth supposed to
go for services now that a lot of the private hospitals have cut it
off? You have city hospitals. Are you doing it?22:21
22 minutes, 21 seconds
They're not answering the question.22:23
22 minutes, 23 seconds
All
right. So, now maybe I'm a little bit too much of a mom Donnie fan. I'm
a M Donny fan as well, but I'm cutting him a little slack because when
he made that campaign22:31
22 minutes, 31 seconds
campaign promise of 65 million for trans care, um he was not in office yet. Now he's in office and lo and behold, he22:39
22 minutes, 39 seconds
discovers
that his predecessor has left, let me finish, his predecessor has left
him a multi-billion dollar deficit in the city budget, which he had to
close.22:49
22 minutes, 49 seconds
He managed to close it without cutting city services. That's pretty phenomenal, but it doesn't leave a lot of discussion.22:55
22 minutes, 55 seconds
Expanded
city services. He's opening up child care for everybody. That's
something he's doing. So, when he wants to do something, when they want
to do23:03
23 minutes, 3 seconds
something,
they find the money and then they ask Albany for the money and he gets
together with the governor who should also be behind this and they23:10
23 minutes, 10 seconds
should do this. This is urgent. These people are without care, you know. I mean, come on.23:17
23 minutes, 17 seconds
There you have it. I mean, you know, the a black le trans advocacy organization, uh, Seyan Dors show said, "I need the23:25
23 minutes, 25 seconds
mayor to put his money where his mouth is." And, uh, provid I'm I'm I'm more23:33
23 minutes, 33 seconds
cutting him more slack because of the budget realities. But, you know, you [laughter] again, I'm saying what whenever they23:40
23 minutes, 40 seconds
want to do something, they do it. They they find the money. They always do.23:44
23 minutes, 44 seconds
Even, you know, whatever. All right. So, let me pick get past this. He was on the radio talking about this. You talked23:52
23 minutes, 52 seconds
about Jonas Hall, who was the saludiatoran in Mississippi.23:56
23 minutes, 56 seconds
Yeah. And then now then, so you know, we we've been telling you about this Watertown Wisconsin high school symphony band,24:04
24 minutes, 4 seconds
right? The Wind Symphony. And they were banned by their school board from doing a 4 and a half minute orchestral piece24:11
24 minutes, 11 seconds
in honor of Marcia P. Johnson on the Stonewall. And it was performed at a church last week.24:17
24 minutes, 17 seconds
Well,
then the Manukqua, sorry, I may mispronounce this, but the Mininoqua
Brewing Company stepped in and said, "Hey, you know what? We want you to
play24:24
24 minutes, 24 seconds
the
concert in its entirety uh in our outdoor outdoor beer garden. Word got
out and they had to move it to someplace bigger to accommodate people.
So, they24:33
24 minutes, 33 seconds
moved
it to their parking lot and then word got out again and it became so
big they've had to do it now in the Madison's uh Madison, Wisconsin's24:40
24 minutes, 40 seconds
Barrymore
Theater. So these kids are going to get to perform this concert yet
again and bring more attention to it when it would have gone under the
radar entirely.24:49
24 minutes, 49 seconds
Exactly. The school board has done more to draw attention to Marshia P. Johnson on the Stonewall Rebellion, which they24:56
24 minutes, 56 seconds
have
mischaracterized, but there. All right. Well, while we're on trans
issues, we should talk about um that a trans man was hired to play on a
women's soccer team.25:06
25 minutes, 6 seconds
What?25:07
25 minutes, 7 seconds
Right. You know, in Minnesota, the Minnesota Aurora FC football club um has signed Isaac Ranson, a transgender man25:16
25 minutes, 16 seconds
and former Cal State Fullerton goalkeeper. Now, um this is again a women's soccer team. Um Ranson has uh uh25:24
25 minutes, 24 seconds
is the first outtransgender player in Aurora's history, and Aurora's team response has been totally supportive.25:30
25 minutes, 30 seconds
The
club welcomed him, supported him, and said it believes everyone
deserves the chance to play. Now, this of course is, you know, not what
anti-trans25:38
25 minutes, 38 seconds
activists
want to see. They're, you know, they if they're saying, "Well, we want
people to play on the team that they from the gender they were assigned25:46
25 minutes, 46 seconds
at birth." Well, that's what's happening here. Exactly.25:49
25 minutes, 49 seconds
But,
you know, they're going to they just don't want to see transgender
people playing at all because they're always they'll always come up with
some argument for why it's unfair to25:56
25 minutes, 56 seconds
everybody else. So, you know, this will not make them happy, but tough.26:02
26 minutes, 2 seconds
All right. Uh in uh the dasis of East Carolina, they installed the first out26:08
26 minutes, 8 seconds
lesbian bishop in the south. Her name is the Reverend Sarah Fiser. She's married to the Reverend Mandy D. Brady, and26:16
26 minutes, 16 seconds
she's now in charge of 66 North Carolina parishes and two college campus ministries.26:23
26 minutes, 23 seconds
I serve a very purple congregation, she said. We are not unanimous in politics or in how much noise children should26:30
26 minutes, 30 seconds
make in church or what brand of coffee to serve. We are united in our desire to see, know, and serve the risen Christ.26:37
26 minutes, 37 seconds
She loves the Lord. There you go. All right. But the company Patagonia does not like the drag26:47
26 minutes, 47 seconds
queen Pattyonia who claims that she took her name from the region in South America known as Patagonia. Okay. So,26:56
26 minutes, 56 seconds
but they are they are suing the the drag queen Patagonia and environmental activists for trademark infr27:04
27 minutes, 4 seconds
infringement,
saying she's moved away from discrete use of a persona to engage in
activism and transformed it into a commercial enterprise and Patty
saying you're trying to erase an activist.27:15
27 minutes, 15 seconds
Well, apparently they had some agreement in 2022 um between them uh uh that27:23
27 minutes, 23 seconds
uh she would not uh try to market things and and she's actually filed for some uh uh trademark um patents so that she27:31
27 minutes, 31 seconds
could
market some things. So I you know it's a little hard to tell exactly
who's right, who's wrong here. Um but I I will say I admire Patagonia
for uh her27:40
27 minutes, 40 seconds
environmental
activism. I mean, all over the place and really pushing against climate
change and a whole bunch of other things and doing it in a way that
engages a lot of people.27:48
27 minutes, 48 seconds
Patty has more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram and nearly 900,000 on Tik Tok. But the company27:55
27 minutes, 55 seconds
Patagonia wants her to agree to remove the trademark application, cease using our mountain landscape logo, and stop28:03
28 minutes, 3 seconds
the sale and promotion of apparel and other products as Patty Goya. So, this reminds me of when what is now28:10
28 minutes, 10 seconds
GLAD, GL L A D, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, you were on the board.28:16
28 minutes, 16 seconds
Uh,
yes. Years ago, years ago. And and back when it started, we were
originally going to call ourselves the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation. Yes. Uh, sorry. No,28:24
28 minutes, 24 seconds
the Gay and Lesbian Alliance uh Anti-Defamation League.28:28
28 minutes, 28 seconds
Sorry.
The Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League. And the ADL, which is a
Jewish organ organization, said, "Uh-uh. You can't do that. I28:36
28 minutes, 36 seconds
stopped you. People try to protect their uh their trademark.28:40
28 minutes, 40 seconds
They do. All right. We've we told you about that horrible murder of O'Shea Sibi in Brooklyn in 2023.28:48
28 minutes, 48 seconds
And so the trial of the perpet of the alleged perpetrator, Dmitri Papov, who's now 20 is on. And28:58
28 minutes, 58 seconds
Papov is trying to say, you know, uh I felt threatened. I was defending myself.29:05
29 minutes, 5 seconds
and he's been picked apart by the DA in the case. Um they he's denying um having made any29:13
29 minutes, 13 seconds
homophobic slurs during the assault uh during the the murder even though um I think it's six different witnesses29:21
29 minutes, 21 seconds
testified to the fact that he made homophobic uh comments during the attack calling effing and using the29:29
29 minutes, 29 seconds
n-word. He denies this. So, is it is that your testimony that they all lied and you're the only one telling the29:35
29 minutes, 35 seconds
truth? And Papov said, "Yes." Now, this case goes back to July or the incident goes back to July 2023. It's29:44
29 minutes, 44 seconds
finally coming to trial and hopefully we will finally get the resolution that O'Shea Sibi and his loved ones deserve.29:51
29 minutes, 51 seconds
The the prosecutor said, "What did you do with your cell phone?" You know, he says, "I I threw it out.30:00
30 minutes
So, you got rid of the evidence, did you? He says, "Correct." All right. More cruelty in South30:08
30 minutes, 8 seconds
Carolina. Governor Henry McMaster, we got a picture of him there, has signed the Student Physical Privacy Act,30:15
30 minutes, 15 seconds
requiring
public schools and universities across the state segregate bathrooms
and locker rooms, changing spaces, and some student housing based30:24
30 minutes, 24 seconds
on
sex assigned at birth. The the language effectively opens the door for
schools to isolate transgender students in outdoor portable toilets.30:34
30 minutes, 34 seconds
Yeah. Portaotties for transgender students and regular bathrooms for everyone else. Um I I find that photo30:42
30 minutes, 42 seconds
unfortunate
because he's so well lit and so smiling and so happy, you know, and I
it's appalling for someone who's doing this to other people. 60 Minutes
has30:51
30 minutes, 51 seconds
been murdered as Scott Py said and you've all heard that news and he has been fired for standing up to the new30:58
30 minutes, 58 seconds
Barry Weiss appointed exh director of the program. Uh but before that there was a journalist named 18 years old31:07
31 minutes, 7 seconds
Santiago Campos who was given an award by CBS News uh for the Mike Wallace31:15
31 minutes, 15 seconds
award. It was a former 60 Minutes correspondent. And here's what this kid had to say.31:20
31 minutes, 20 seconds
While I want to thank CBS News for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to also acknowledge31:27
31 minutes, 27 seconds
how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship.31:35
31 minutes, 35 seconds
As corporate elites take hold.31:44
31 minutes, 44 seconds
[applause]31:48
31 minutes, 48 seconds
As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves the people31:54
31 minutes, 54 seconds
becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial. And what the people want is the truth. So, if at any32:03
32 minutes, 3 seconds
time
you hesitate to utter the word genocide or remain silent in the face of
blatant lies, remember to ask yourself, who is this for? I hope you
choose us.32:15
32 minutes, 15 seconds
Thank you.32:16
32 minutes, 16 seconds
I know. And right after that, Scott P, who handed him the award, wrapped him in an embrace embrace and said, "God, we32:24
32 minutes, 24 seconds
need young people like you behind us." Well, you're God now, Scott. I think you all at over there at 60 Minutes who have32:31
32 minutes, 31 seconds
any integrity need to go off and start your own show. We did.32:35
32 minutes, 35 seconds
I
love the reaction in that clip. Uh it's when they cut to the audience
and there's a woman close up on the right whose face is like, "Ooh,
girl, you32:43
32 minutes, 43 seconds
going there?" That's what happens when you speak the truth. Yeah. Yeah.32:49
32 minutes, 49 seconds
By
the way, he won the award for reporting on immigrant enforcement and
fear tearing through his community. Now, I I want to drag us back to
crime news32:57
32 minutes, 57 seconds
for
just a second. We moved away a little too quickly because um back here
in New York City, it took three years, but they finally have a suspect
um who33:06
33 minutes, 6 seconds
allegedly gay bashed a stranger on the subway. Um he's been caught. Uh Man Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg33:14
33 minutes, 14 seconds
uh announced that this 26-year-old Tavon Thompson has been indicted for that anti-gay assault on a 27year-old person33:22
33 minutes, 22 seconds
in a West Harlem subway station. Um and uh hopefully he will be brought to justice now. Um, and by the way, uh, of33:30
33 minutes, 30 seconds
course a bunch of other people were fired at at 60 Minutes as well before Scott Py, but now Weiss, Barry Weiss,33:37
33 minutes, 37 seconds
this horror show, uh, and she happens to be a lesbian, is eyeing right-wing podcaster Joe Rogan for the show.33:48
33 minutes, 48 seconds
All
right. Now, there's a controversy in New York. It's been going on for a
long time. And we were all pretty upset when the city council under
Christine Quinn33:55
33 minutes, 55 seconds
named the Queensboro Bridge for Ed Cotch. Christine Quinn out lesbian.34:00
34 minutes
Yes. She wanted his endorsement when she ran for mayor. She lost. So here's So Alan Rosco of the Jim Liberal Democratic34:09
34 minutes, 9 seconds
Club
has been asking candidates ever since, will you get Ed Cotch's name off
that bridge? He was an AIDS war criminal. He was a racist. By the way,
he was a sexual predator with staff.34:20
34 minutes, 20 seconds
It's all and a lot of them said yes.34:22
34 minutes, 22 seconds
Mayor M mom Donnie when he was running said yes now doesn't want to talk about it.34:27
34 minutes, 27 seconds
Also
city council speaker um Julie Menon when she was campaigning for that
office and now she's saying she's saying she doesn't want to deal34:35
34 minutes, 35 seconds
with it. Mom Donnie apparently is sticking to his guns and saying that it should come off.34:39
34 minutes, 39 seconds
He
says it's not a priority so they're going to bury it and Julie Menon is
not going to move it. That name should not Let's just go back to it
being the34:48
34 minutes, 48 seconds
Queensboro Bridge or as most people call it the 59th Street Bridge. Feeling groovy. Uh let's just go back to that.34:55
34 minutes, 55 seconds
They all these naming things are caused trouble.34:58
34 minutes, 58 seconds
For
those who did not catch Andy's reference, Feeling Groovy is a reference
to the uh Simon and Garfuncle song which is composed on 59th Street
Bridge.35:07
35 minutes, 7 seconds
I think it's something like that. All right. Um more crime news.35:11
35 minutes, 11 seconds
Well, yeah. In Georgia, you want to Yeah. In Atlanta, there was a nightclub owner, uh, uh, a lesbian, Cheryl Kanty,35:19
35 minutes, 19 seconds
and
she was fatally murdered by her ex-wife. This is the kind of story we
don't like to have to report, but she was co-owner of Atlantan's o
Atlanta's35:28
35 minutes, 28 seconds
Opium Nightclub and a well-known party promoter. Um, and uh, she was shot dead by her ex-wife. story made reference to35:37
35 minutes, 37 seconds
it that according to the CDC, 44% of lesbian women report having experienced physical violence, stalking, or rape by35:45
35 minutes, 45 seconds
a partner in their lifetime. That's alarming, shocking.35:49
35 minutes, 49 seconds
That is shocking. It It is supposedly commensurate to what is seen in heterosexual relationships, but it still shouldn't be.35:57
35 minutes, 57 seconds
And 44% of LGBTQ plus survivors of intimate partner violence report that they've been denied shelter services36:04
36 minutes, 4 seconds
when they're seeking help. something we need to correct.36:07
36 minutes, 7 seconds
Yeah, that's the great outrage is the the dis disparate uh desperate uh reaction of of authorities to the abuse.36:14
36 minutes, 14 seconds
Anyway, desperate impact. Thank you. All right. International news.36:19
36 minutes, 19 seconds
Yes. Let's start with your ancestral homeland. No, let's start with Brazil. Okay.36:23
36 minutes, 23 seconds
Uh we could we could go to uh Hungary, although my people were really from Romania, but uh we they said we're36:30
36 minutes, 30 seconds
Hungarian. All right. So the president of of Argentina is anti-gay. He's a he's a jerk.36:38
36 minutes, 38 seconds
Uh and and so but the president of Brazil is a good guy. He's a progressive Lula. He's a progressive. So what did he36:46
36 minutes, 46 seconds
do? He took the uh um the not the consulate, the uh [laughter] embassy in Buenosirees and draped the whole36:55
36 minutes, 55 seconds
thing bottom to top in a giant rainbow flag to celebrate Pride Month. So things have gotten better in Hungary. Uh the37:04
37 minutes, 4 seconds
authorities
in Budapest now have given the green light for the capital's pride
march in June. It was banned by the government last year, although
everybody in protest marched anyway.37:14
37 minutes, 14 seconds
Right.37:15
37 minutes, 15 seconds
So uh that was under Victor Orban. The okay comes as the European Union released more than 16 billion euros in37:24
37 minutes, 24 seconds
funds that had been withheld from the Orban government because they were so bad on human rights. especially LGBTQ rights.37:32
37 minutes, 32 seconds
And I think we need to mention that, you know, before Victor Orban got voted out and when they everybody showed up for37:40
37 minutes, 40 seconds
the pride anyway, they were led by the mayor of Budapestt, a guy named Gurgali Karashkani. Um, and he's a great hero37:49
37 minutes, 49 seconds
for doing that. In fact, he's he was charged for leading that that protest.37:54
37 minutes, 54 seconds
Nobody
knows. I don't think it's been determined yet whether those charges are
going to continue now that there's a new government. But regardless,
he's a hero38:01
38 minutes, 1 second
for standing up for our community. Um at a time when it cost it was a a real bold stand to take.38:08
38 minutes, 8 seconds
Majar the new president is a conservative but and he avoided the march but he didn't criticize it either.38:15
38 minutes, 15 seconds
believes in freedom of assembly and all those kinds of things. And he has he is also changing the constitution to get38:22
38 minutes, 22 seconds
rid
of the current president which is the president is the ceremonial
office and this guy is a right-wing nut and he's he's moving to change
everything.38:32
38 minutes, 32 seconds
Yeah. Restoring uh uh freedom of the press too as I understand it. Oh god. Yes.38:36
38 minutes, 36 seconds
Yeah. So unfortunately in Africa we have a different story. enslavish devotion to38:44
38 minutes, 44 seconds
the legacy of colonialism. A horrific anti-LGBT uh Q law has just passed their38:51
38 minutes, 51 seconds
parliament. Um it has yet to be signed by their president and we have a photo of him. What's his name again? John Mahana.38:58
38 minutes, 58 seconds
John Mahana. It has yet to to be signed by him. But I find it hard to believe that he will find the gumption to stand39:05
39 minutes, 5 seconds
up to those really powerful anti-gay forces. the former president uh uh Aufo Ado in 2024 when they passed a similar39:14
39 minutes, 14 seconds
bill
did not sign it. But this guy has said he would support the bill's
passage. So let's talk about the bill a little bit because why is it so39:22
39 minutes, 22 seconds
horrific? It doesn't criminalize just the behavior. It criminalizes the identity of being LGBTQ and it39:30
39 minutes, 30 seconds
encourages your friends and neighbors to report you. And there are penalties if you don't report people for being LGBTQ.39:38
39 minutes, 38 seconds
I
think the only things that are comparable in Africa right now are in
Uganda and parts of Nigeria where they actually give the death penalty
for uh39:46
39 minutes, 46 seconds
for
uh being uh for the thing is they already had laws against homosexual
activity which were never enforced. You know, we like our39:55
39 minutes, 55 seconds
sodomy
laws were always on the books and they were they were rarely enforced,
although they were a it was a great burden having them on the books
because it made us all criminals.40:05
40 minutes, 5 seconds
So
yeah, that this is unfortunately what they're facing in Ghana. Again,
it is not law yet, but we have we have to wait and see what will happen.40:13
40 minutes, 13 seconds
More
than 30 of Africa's 54 countries have laws that criminalize samesex
sexual acts. Some carry lengthy jail terms of more than 10 years and the40:21
40 minutes, 21 seconds
punishment is death in Somalia, Uganda, and Moritania. Um, meanwhile, um, by the way, there's a there's a40:29
40 minutes, 29 seconds
international
family sovereignty and values conference taking place in Ghana next
week. And Oh, yeah. And isn't the Congressional Black Caucus going
there?40:39
40 minutes, 39 seconds
Well, and there's they're urging them not to.40:42
40 minutes, 42 seconds
Yeah.
[snorts] Um, meanwhile, speaking of Africa, because some of those
countries are Commonwealth countries, by the way, funded by Russia.40:49
40 minutes, 49 seconds
Yeah.
Yeah. What a shock. Um, uh, speaking of Africa, because some of those
countries are Commonwealth countries, there was a protest in the40:57
40 minutes, 57 seconds
UK, um, against all those Commonwealth countries that still criminalize homosexuality.41:03
41 minutes, 3 seconds
And
there there is there on the right, Sir Ian Mckllen, the great great
actor and activist. And on the left is Peter Tatchel, the great great
activist.41:13
41 minutes, 13 seconds
And I apologize for not knowing the name of the gentleman in the middle.41:16
41 minutes, 16 seconds
Yeah,
me neither. Um, but anyway, so they they actually had sort of a march
to the various uh to the various Commonwealth uh government offices.41:25
41 minutes, 25 seconds
Yeah, they marched all around the town.41:26
41 minutes, 26 seconds
Yeah.
Including to Trinidad and Tobago, which, you know, they almost got rid
of their sodomy laws, but then the Supreme Court said, "No, you can't
invalidate it41:34
41 minutes, 34 seconds
on
the grounds that you were trying to invalidate it." So they still have
them and I may be going down there soon and I will go there as my full
self. So they will just have to deal.41:44
41 minutes, 44 seconds
Good luck. They will just have to deal.41:46
41 minutes, 46 seconds
29 Commonwealth countries still criminalize homosexuality. Now these are British era colonial laws. But you would41:55
41 minutes, 55 seconds
think having thrown off British colonial rule they might. And I think that speaks to innate homophobia and bigotry.42:03
42 minutes, 3 seconds
I'm
sure it's a combination of both. But uh I mean they're not doing it
because they love the British. By the way, the secretary general of the
Commonwealth42:12
42 minutes, 12 seconds
Secretary General is from Ghana and she just became her began her tenure and she needs to do more to get this under42:21
42 minutes, 21 seconds
control. Staying in Britain, uh Moren Duffy who was a pioneering LGBTQ activist and author has died at 92.42:28
42 minutes, 28 seconds
She was the first gay woman in British public life to be open about her sexuality. She came out publicly in the42:37
42 minutes, 37 seconds
60s, made public comments before male homosexual acts were decriminalized in 1967. She was a she wrote more than 6042:45
42 minutes, 45 seconds
works
of fiction. She said, "I don't write to represent gay lover characters,
but because they're part of who I am and I write about myself." She was
much honored.42:53
42 minutes, 53 seconds
And
I should just mend what you said, 60 works of fiction, non-fiction,
poetry, and plays. sorry, combined, including the bestselling43:00
43 minutes
novel, The Microcosm, uh, which was set in, uh, London and at a famous lesbian club in 1966 called43:09
43 minutes, 9 seconds
Gateways. All right. Meanwhile, in Russia, go ahead.43:13
43 minutes, 13 seconds
The 13-year-old kid is being prosecuted for LG promoting LGBTQ propaganda43:21
43 minutes, 21 seconds
because he happened to share a video he found online. Years old.43:25
43 minutes, 25 seconds
Yep. Uh, apparently it had uh some uh uh gay symbols in it. Um, he thought it was a joke and he's being sent to reform43:34
43 minutes, 34 seconds
school now because of it where he will be re-educated because he was considered remediable.43:41
43 minutes, 41 seconds
It's Russia even worse than the United States.43:46
43 minutes, 46 seconds
So here's a picture of Philippo Sorseli.43:53
43 minutes, 53 seconds
He uh he is the vestment designer for the last three popes including the current one including the variant. This44:02
44 minutes, 2 seconds
is an openly gay man. He he has a perfume line that includes a scent called cruising area and uh but he did44:11
44 minutes, 11 seconds
costumes for Benedict the 16th. It was terribly anti-gay. Francis who was a little better and now Leo the 14th.44:19
44 minutes, 19 seconds
Vogue just named Pope Leo one of the 55 best dressed people of 2025.44:24
44 minutes, 24 seconds
I don't know. I think if you collaborate with them in almost any fashion, you are not really being true to yourself.44:33
44 minutes, 33 seconds
My experience of the church has always been one of welcome. No one's ever stopped me at the threshold of a church.44:38
44 minutes, 38 seconds
He says, "Well, they're going to they would stop you if you tried to get married there." All right. If you tried to marry a man.44:45
44 minutes, 45 seconds
Are we ready for AIDS and health news?44:48
44 minutes, 48 seconds
Well,
yes. On uh Friday, June 5th at 7 o'clock at the AIDS memorial, they're
going to have an AIDS vigil in March in New York City. I'll be there for
that.44:57
44 minutes, 57 seconds
Um in Louisiana, they have taken steps to end HIV criminalization. Um, it's not entirely gone, but Governor Jeff Landry45:05
45 minutes, 5 seconds
signed legislation that narrows the state's HIV exposure law by limiting prosecutions to conduct that poses a45:12
45 minutes, 12 seconds
substantial likelihood of transmission and by creating new protections for people living with HIV.45:18
45 minutes, 18 seconds
Do we have that? Do we have that video with Cleave Jones? Can we run it?45:27
45 minutes, 27 seconds
[music]45:28
45 minutes, 28 seconds
I first learned about a new disease that we now call HIV AIDS in June 1981.45:35
45 minutes, 35 seconds
By 1985, almost everyone I knew was dead or dying or caring for someone who was dying. Fear and stigma surrounded the45:43
45 minutes, 43 seconds
disease
and our government failed to act. So, my friends and I built a quilt to
honor the lives lost and demand action. Made up of thousands of three45:52
45 minutes, 52 seconds
foot
by six foot panels, the AIDS quilt became the world's largest community
folk art project as it traveled across the country and around the world
to46:00
46 minutes
change attitudes about AIDS and increase calls to fund research, treatment, and care. It's been 45 years with 45 million46:08
46 minutes, 8 seconds
dead and AIDS still isn't over. We fight on for the day when a vaccine and cure are found. That struggle unites people46:16
46 minutes, 16 seconds
everywhere who believe we can build a healthy nation and share our world in peace with justice.46:24
46 minutes, 24 seconds
So just a little context just a little context about that clip that is part of a a series of very short videos called46:32
46 minutes, 32 seconds
250
to 250 which talk about mostly ordinary Americans and how they have
changed the the the direction of the country by what they did.46:41
46 minutes, 41 seconds
Are you doing one? Uh, I'm not.46:42
46 minutes, 42 seconds
[laughter]46:44
46 minutes, 44 seconds
You're a big guy.46:45
46 minutes, 45 seconds
No, no. But that put together by Heather Co Cox Richardson and Cleave is asking us all on June 5th to have actions46:54
46 minutes, 54 seconds
across the country to promote healthcare, which if you haven't noticed is being47:01
47 minutes, 1 second
taken away from you. Well, speaking of exactly that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is now47:08
47 minutes, 8 seconds
under Trump's uh Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr.47:14
47 minutes, 14 seconds
has uh very sort of stealthily gotten rid of EMPAC's guidance um that was on their website tied to Pride events. Um,47:23
47 minutes, 23 seconds
so
of course they feel that this is more DEI and they don't want to be
associated with it and it is actually maybe completely illegal that they
got rid of47:32
47 minutes, 32 seconds
it
because a court has previously ruled that um they have to keep this uh
information up on their website. But they're going to do it anyway.47:39
47 minutes, 39 seconds
Keep googling, you'll find out, but you won't find out from your federal government. The NIH has terminated over47:46
47 minutes, 46 seconds
2,000 health equity grants for bipok LGBTQ communities, people of color. And this I have to read about47:54
47 minutes, 54 seconds
[clears throat] this in the Lancet about what's happening in the United States.47:58
47 minutes, 58 seconds
The the Lancet is a very prestigious perhaps the most prestigious um health journal in the world, but it's based out of the UK.48:04
48 minutes, 4 seconds
I should have said 200 uh grants also for LGBTQ communities. This is all Trump48:11
48 minutes, 11 seconds
nonsense. Florida lawmakers have agreed to reverse some HIV AIDS cuts. Wonders never cease. The deal restores48:19
48 minutes, 19 seconds
eligibility
to 400% of the federal poverty level, reverses drug restrictions
imposed by the Department of Health, provides more money. Uh, how48:27
48 minutes, 27 seconds
did this happen? I wish I knew, but it's good news.48:31
48 minutes, 31 seconds
I
was about to ask you how that happened and and I don't know either. Um,
I'm only the co-host of the Gay USA show. I don't know everything.48:38
48 minutes, 38 seconds
[laughter]48:39
48 minutes, 39 seconds
Meanwhile, Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I was going to switch to entertainment news, but if you have something else. Okay. Yeah.48:45
48 minutes, 45 seconds
Um,
Shakespeare in the Park is a tradition here in New York City. It takes
place in a place called the Delicort Theater in the middle of Central
Park. And, uh, they do, uh, I48:54
48 minutes, 54 seconds
think two productions each summer at least. Yeah.48:56
48 minutes, 56 seconds
Yeah.
And it involves this whole sort of process of waiting online for hours
to try and get those free tickets because it's entirely free. It's put
out by um,49:05
49 minutes, 5 seconds
uh,
unless you make a big donation, right? Unless you're some corporate
donor. But um this year they're doing Romeo and Juliet and following the49:14
49 minutes, 14 seconds
performances there are apparently going to be weddings and one of the weddings um included a trans couple uh Teague49:22
49 minutes, 22 seconds
Hollister and K Wasel. I hope I pronounced that correctly.49:25
49 minutes, 25 seconds
Yes, that's right. Yep. And uh they got married after the Delort's production of Romeo and Juliet.49:30
49 minutes, 30 seconds
That's a that's a drawing of them that appeared in the New Yorker. Uh they are both drag king performers. Teague as49:38
49 minutes, 38 seconds
Hugh Man race and K as Chvy Lace. Uh, and when it was announced that a couple49:46
49 minutes, 46 seconds
was going to be married, the crowd gasped and then erupted in applause. I [laughter] wasn't there. I wish I was.49:52
49 minutes, 52 seconds
It sounds great. And the outgay Tony winner Francis Jew, a JU, who plays Frier Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet,50:01
50 minutes, 1 second
legally performed the ceremony. No, what what cracks me up is that I mean most of us know Romeo and Romeo and Juliet is50:08
50 minutes, 8 seconds
kind of sad, but I I guess they're sort of trying to reclaim some joy um and and end on a happier note by50:15
50 minutes, 15 seconds
well,
you know, for a lot of a [clears throat] long period in the 19th
century or maybe 18th century, they gave King Lear a happy ending and it
was performed that way for many, many years.50:27
50 minutes, 27 seconds
But we're back to the tragedy.50:29
50 minutes, 29 seconds
Well, you know what this makes me think of? Why didn't Maria die at the end of Westside's story? The Why would she have died?50:36
50 minutes, 36 seconds
Well, because Juliet dies at the end of Romeo and Juliet, right? You you you got that right.50:41
50 minutes, 41 seconds
Yeah. So, why does Maria see very interesting point something for our viewers to think about and chime in on?50:48
50 minutes, 48 seconds
Maybe they thought it was too much and they didn't they just didn't want to.50:51
50 minutes, 51 seconds
Well,
if they didn't have her die, she wouldn't be able to say, "Is there
another bullet for you and you and still have one for me?" Yeah. It's a
great50:58
50 minutes, 58 seconds
scene. All right. Broadway's Tony Awards are on Sunday coming to you from Radio City Music Hall. You can watch them, I51:06
51 minutes, 6 seconds
hate to say it, on CBS at 8:00. Lots of LGBTQ news people to watch. Going to go51:14
51 minutes, 14 seconds
through
these quickly. Nathan Lane and these are the nominees. Nathan Lane and
Death of a Salesman. And that's he's with Queen Jean. She's nominated
twice51:22
51 minutes, 22 seconds
for costume design for Liberation and the musical Cats the Jellical Ball. And then there's Andre Dashield who was51:30
51 minutes, 30 seconds
nominated in Cats the Jellical Ball. And then from Rocky Horror, you've got Luke Evans there and Stephanie Sue, uh, HSU51:38
51 minutes, 38 seconds
from Rocky Horror. They're standing there with Rose Burn, also nominated from Fallen Angels. Uh, from Ragtime,51:46
51 minutes, 46 seconds
you've got Ben Levi Ross and Brandon Uranowitz outgay both in that show, nominated. And from Titanic, I don't51:55
51 minutes, 55 seconds
Titanic. Uh, you've got Mara Mandel with there with Leighton Williams who are nominated. They're standing there with52:02
52 minutes, 2 seconds
Ty Blue who's the show's coowriter with the outgay Constantine Rousulli and Mandel. And that's not even counting the52:10
52 minutes, 10 seconds
gay
directors. Joe Mantel, Death of a Salesman, Nick Heitner, Giant,
Christopher Gatelli for Schmeiggadun, and the costume designer Paul
Taswell52:18
52 minutes, 18 seconds
for Joe's Turner Come and Gone, which I saw last night. Um, interesting production. And I've got to say it's not52:26
52 minutes, 26 seconds
my favorite August Wilson play because it is a play written by the legendary uh uh playwright August Wilson. Wonder um52:35
52 minutes, 35 seconds
but August Wilson just has a remarkable way with ver with the vernacular. Um and immerses you sort of in in the millure52:43
52 minutes, 43 seconds
of
the of the characters. So it was it was an interesting production. I
enjoyed it. I'd recommend it. Um and one of the most fun parts is that
it's a largely black audience and my people are vocal.52:54
52 minutes, 54 seconds
So
there's a it's not calling response, but you know when when things
happen, people are like all over it. Um and it's a sort of audible
response and that's a lot of fun.53:02
53 minutes, 2 seconds
Well,
you know, they have I believe it's a controversy in London. Sometimes
they want to have blackout nights where only black people can come.53:10
53 minutes, 10 seconds
Oh, yeah. Well, how do you feel about that?53:13
53 minutes, 13 seconds
Oh, I I'd have to think about that. I I don't know. I think I I I tend to tend to [clears throat] recoil at those kind53:22
53 minutes, 22 seconds
of
blanket, you know, hard the the black community in New York, of course,
started with slavery in in many cases, many cases. Um but when black53:31
53 minutes, 31 seconds
people started, you know, integrating into New York in the early 1800s, they lived in the village, Greenwich Village.53:36
53 minutes, 36 seconds
That was the their area. And they had a theater that banned white people. They We know you know this story. I don't53:44
53 minutes, 44 seconds
because and they had a a sign up that said because you do not know how to comport yourselves around people of color.53:52
53 minutes, 52 seconds
Well,
I have to correct you on one thing. It wasn't the only community down
in the village. There was also Senica Village which was around Central
Park54:00
54 minutes
that which they bulldozed to make Central Park. Yes.54:03
54 minutes, 3 seconds
So,
yes. Anyway, and they kept getting displaced and they ended up in
Harlem which used to be a Jewish uh community. So, New York ever
changing.54:13
54 minutes, 13 seconds
All right. I saw the play Jerome. Uh, it's a new gay and aid the AIDS themed play at Playright's Horizon by John54:22
54 minutes, 22 seconds
Coswell Jr. starring Steven Spanella there in the middle and uh wait a minute, let me get his name. Uh,54:29
54 minutes, 29 seconds
where where are you? uh and George Bennett Watson as a long there on54:38
54 minutes, 38 seconds
the left as a long they're a longtime gay couple in the early 1990s and a sparsely populated part of northern54:45
54 minutes, 45 seconds
Arizona and into their lives comes the handsome younger man of 53 played by Ken Barnett and drama ensues and it's a ne54:54
54 minutes, 54 seconds
unique perspective on gay aging and gay relationships against the background of the AIDS crisis lots of humor also a lot55:02
55 minutes, 2 seconds
of heart. But I have to say it's Playright's Horizon and your hearing devices there at Playrights Horizon are55:09
55 minutes, 9 seconds
not
adequate. I am a person with hearing loss. Broadway does very well on
this. I went to complain. They said we don't have any money.55:17
55 minutes, 17 seconds
I'm like, come on, you got to fix that. Wow.55:20
55 minutes, 20 seconds
All right. Other notes. Lajio F with an all black cast led by Billy Porter is at the city center for the Encore series55:29
55 minutes, 29 seconds
June 17th to 28th. Oh Mary is coming to the National Theater in DC, three blocks from the White House on Lincoln's55:37
55 minutes, 37 seconds
birthday in February. Of course, you couldn't get Ford's Theater. I guess not. [laughter] And uh that's the news55:45
55 minutes, 45 seconds
for
this week. Oh my god, I can't believe we got through all that Pride
news and everything else. Uh yes and it you know what are you what are
you doing55:54
55 minutes, 54 seconds
for
pride? Will you be at the uh drag march with with Annne Northrup
marshalling I will have Friday before the pride before pride.56:04
56 minutes, 4 seconds
I
always do the drag march. I live a block away from Tomkin Square Park.
So it is always really super fun to go down there and see everyone
muster and all56:12
56 minutes, 12 seconds
the fabulous outfits. That's where I used to see Gilbert Baker every year um because he was always there in some56:18
56 minutes, 18 seconds
rainbow getup and uh yeah it's a lot of fun. Um so yes I will be there for that.56:24
56 minutes, 24 seconds
I
certainly intend to make it to the queer liberation march. Of course
our friends in Gays Against Guns are going to be grand marshals of the
one of the56:32
56 minutes, 32 seconds
grand
marshals of the New York City Pride which is the one that just sort of
wanders around slowly. I'm sorry. It's the way I feel about it.56:41
56 minutes, 41 seconds
You know, last time the floats and the corporate floats.56:44
56 minutes, 44 seconds
The last time I I watched Pride because I used to be like, I have to watch Pride from beginning to end. And it took eight hours.56:51
56 minutes, 51 seconds
Eight hours. Eight hours.56:53
56 minutes, 53 seconds
No, eight hours.56:54
56 minutes, 54 seconds
It doesn't have to take eight hours. The Qu Liberation March will move quickly.56:58
56 minutes, 58 seconds
We'll
give you more information about that. And of course, you're having your
events all across the country. This is it's everywhere like we showed
you in this rural area in Minnesota. And you know, I met my partner uh
current. Yes.57:12
57 minutes, 12 seconds
On
the day of um the queer liberation march. I had just finished the march
and two friends. I was exhausted. I was like, I have to go home and
sleep. And57:20
57 minutes, 20 seconds
they're like, "No, you're coming to this afternoon midday party." And they drive.57:23
57 minutes, 23 seconds
It's a very bad day to meet people cuz everybody's out. Yeah. But there you have go.57:29
57 minutes, 29 seconds
So
we go to this party and this guy walks in as I was about to walk out
cuz I was like, I cannot be here another second. and he's tall, dark,
and and57:37
57 minutes, 37 seconds
handsome. And I'm like, "Who are you?" And that's how we met.57:41
57 minutes, 41 seconds
What
a beautiful story. What a beautiful pride story. I hope you all have
good ones to share. We're down to our last 10 seconds. Thanks for being
with us,
Free Speech TV
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