Meduza: Russian mapping and business database company 2GIS asks employees to compile registry of LGBT establishments. “The management of the Russian online mapping serving 2GIS has instructed employees to gather data about establishments for LGBTQ+ people in a single registry, the outlet iStories reported on Monday, publishing a photo of the message workers received.”
The Conversation: Queer archives preserve activist history and provide strategies to counter hate . “Since 2020, I have been helping to build a 2SLGBTQ+ Community Archive in Hamilton, Ont. My students and I are often amazed at just how long 2SLGBTQ+ communities have been resisting very similar kinds of backlash, hate and violence to what we’re seeing today. Anyone concerned about 2SLGBTQ+ struggles today can learn from the history of resistance and activism preserved in these archives.”
UPI: Germany’s Anti-Discrimination Agency quits X over ‘massive’ surge in hate speech, disinformation. “Germany’s Anti-Discrimination Agency announced Wednesday that it was quitting Elon Musk’s X due to ‘intolerable’ levels of hate content on the platform targeting the LGBTQ community, minorities, women and Jewish people.”
The Pink News: Mermaids quits Twitter due to lack of ‘safe, healthy or inclusive’ space for trans people. “Trans charity Mermaids has announced its departure from X (formerly known as Twitter) as the social media platform no longer aligns with its values. Mermaids, one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities, said that the Elon Musk-owned platform now fails to provide a safe space for trans people or trans organisations in a statement on Thursday (5 October).”
Euronews: Pro-Russia disinformation floods Slovakia ahead of crucial parliamentary election . “Propaganda and attacks on LGBTQ people are prominent ahead of election which could decide whether the country moves politically closer to Moscow. Voters in Slovakia are being inundated with misinformation from home and abroad in the run-up to the country’s parliamentary elections on Saturday. The vote could determine whether the country of 5.4 million moves closer to Moscow or not, with much of the false information coming from Russia.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri health agency quietly scrubbed sexual health, LGBTQ resources from website. “As Missouri lawmakers were considering the most anti-LGBTQ bills of any state, the state health department quietly scrubbed youth sexual health and LGBTQ resources from its website. Lisa Cox, the spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, emailed the agency’s website team in late January directing the removal of links from the website’s adolescent and teen health information page.”
CNN: X took two days to suspend account of suspect in Pride flag killing. “X has suspended an account that posted numerous anti-gay and antisemitic posts and was used by the man accused of killing store owner Lauri Carleton over her display of a Pride Flag. But the account had remained live two days after law enforcement publicly confirmed its existence on the platform formerly known as Twitter. The social media company finally suspended the account Wednesday evening.”
Los Angeles Blade: Angered by LGBTQ+ lecture, state GOP lawmakers threaten funds. “A contingent of Alabama Republican Senate lawmakers led by State Sen. Chris Elliott, are filing a bill that will divert $5 million in critical funds from the Alabama Department of Archives and History over its refusal to not hold a noontime lecture focused on LGBTQ+ history this past month in recognition of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.”
Reuters: Chief of Russia’s Yandex faces court case for ‘LGBT propaganda’. “The chief executive of Nasdaq-listed internet company Yandex faces prosecution in a Russian court for alleged offences under the country’s so-called ‘LGBT propaganda’ law, a notice on the court’s website said on Wednesday. The move to prosecute Artem Savinovsky, for which no hearing date was listed, comes a day after a different court levied a 1 million rubles ($11,048) fine against an online film database owned by Yandex under the same law.”
CNBC: Google employees boo company at drag show that was nearly canceled amid religious employee protest. “A drag show originally meant to celebrate the end of Pride month turned into a rallying cry for corporate allyship as dozens of Google employees attended, some of whom booed their employer.”
Hollywood Reporter: GLAAD, HRC Issue Letter Signed by 250+ Stars Asking Social Platforms to Curb Anti-LGBTQ Hate. “GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign have teamed to issue a public letter signed by more than 250 notable names that urges CEOs of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter to help curb anti-LGBTQ hate on their platforms by better enforcing policies that protect that community.”
TechCrunch: Elon Musk triples down on making Twitter terrible for trans people. “Elon Musk, world’s richest person and ostensible champion of free speech, took to Twitter late Tuesday to stoop to a fresh low. Responding to a tweet complaining about being called ‘cis’ — the shorthand version of the word ‘cisgender,’ which simply means ‘not transgender’ — Musk declared that from here on out both terms are now considered slurs on the social network.”
Rolling Stone: The Right Boosted Trans Hate — And Ran Up Their Follower Counts. “On one hand, it’s true that the right is familiar with trans issues — as trans visibility has grown, right-wing activists have consistently campaigned against their rights…. At the same time, there have been indications of prominent right-wing figures planning to harness anti-trans rhetoric.”
CBS Bay Area: Twitter worst among major social media platforms on LGBTQ safety, GLAAD says. “All major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming, the advocacy group GLAAD said Thursday. But Twitter is the worst.”
NBC News: Elon Musk’s new Twitter pronoun rule invites bullying, LGBTQ groups say. “In a tweet on the first day of Pride Month, Musk said he personally uses the pronouns that someone – including a transgender person – prefers because it’s good manners, but that he wouldn’t enforce that policy on Twitter.”
