An Ohio family claims someone stole an LGBTQ Pride flag that they had hung from their front porch and burned it.
The Fitzpatric family of Wyoming, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, claims the unknown person came onto the porch to steal the flag and apparently tripped over their Christmas lights. Then the thief burned the flag at the corner of Beech Avenue and Worthington Avenue.
“It’s a real sense of violation to have somebody come onto your property,” Michele Fitzpatric, the mother, told local Cincinnati affiliate FOX19. “It’s an act of violence; it’s a threat.”
The Fitzpatrics said they put up the flag in June after they discussed the meaning behind the flag, and because their daughter, Maggie, said she was disturbed by the bullying of gay or transgender kids in school.
“I think [people] don’t necessarily realize the hurt that they are causing for those that are part of that community,” Maggie Fitzpatric said.
She said several friends reached out after the flag burning.
“They were speechless,” Maggie said. “They never thought that this type of thing would have happened, especially in Wyoming,” adding that she previously believed Wyoming was a “very accepting community.”
The family told FOX19 they’ve ordered a new, bigger flag to replace the burned one, and said that several of their neighbors have ordered similar flags as a show of support.
Bill Fitzpatric, the father of the family, posted on his Facebook page that he and his wife had initially “struggled” with how to address the incident.
“While the financial impact of this crime is low, the emotional impact is high. We fly that flag to show support for groups of people that are marginalized and victimized just for having the courage to honor their true selves and to pursue loving, fulfilling relationships,” he wrote. “That someone carries enough hate in their heart to walk up to a house blazing with Christmas lights to steal and burn a gay/trans pride flag shows why we as a community need to be even more vocal in our support.
“My flag, just like a gay or trans person living their authentic lives, is not harming anyone and is not offensive to anyone who is not a bigot,” Fitzpatric wrote, adding he hopes the incident sparks a larger discussion about “the type of community in which we want to live and raise our kids.”
“Clearly bigotry starts at home,” he wrote. “Kids aren’t born hateful; they are taught by their parents, and it can either be reinforced or mitigated by their teachers and peers. If you’re not a bigot, please talk to your kids explicitly about hate of all kinds. Don’t assume they know how to be against hate, not just passive in the face of it. Give them the tools and support to actively stand up against hate. Your kids are the peers of kids being taught hate at home and can help a good kid born to bad parents be a better person.”
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have adopted a new rules package that allows a proposed transgender sports ban to be fast-tracked and voted on without a chance to offer amendments.
Under the text of the rules package, 12 bills that Republican lawmakers have long prioritized -- primarily having to do with immigration, anti-abortion measures, and fracking -- are to be voted upon "as read."
Among those is a measure to "amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with Title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth."
Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have introduced at least 120 bills explicitly targeting the transgender community or seeking to roll back rights or legal protections for trans individuals, according to transgender journalist Erin Reed.
Reed, who has been tracking anti-transgender legislation for her Erin in the Morning Substack, reported that the number of bills introduced before the start of 2025 state legislative sessions is 120 -- a 50% increase from the 80 bills pre-filed before the start of the 2023 legislative calendar.
The bulk of the bills have been introduced in Texas and Missouri, but lawmakers in 11 other states have also embraced anti-transgender legislation as a priority for the upcoming year.
Murray Hill will host King of Drag, the first-ever drag king reality competition series.
The series, which is slated to premiere this spring on the LGBTQ streaming network Revry, will run for six episodes and feature eight performers in competition for the title "King of Drag."
As reported by Variety, the series will be different from other reality competition shows because viewers will learn more about each contestant's backstory, what motivates them, and their goals should they win as part of each episode.
"Rather than rehash the format of other drag competition shows, the series' producers will showcase drag king’s unique talents, including comedy, unconventional performances, and timely commentary on masculinity, which has been part of the drag king subculture for decades," reads a press release announcing the show.
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