Judge throws out case where the victim of a homophobic assault was charged
A Sydney judge has thrown out a case where a teenager was targeted and assaulted over his sexuality and then when he reported it to the police they charged him with affray.
Ben West has just turned 18 and was shopping at Penrith Plaza last May when a man he knew yelled a homophobic slur at him.
This week Channel Nine reported that West tried to walk away but he was attacked by the man who punched him in the head. He was punched several more time and ended up wresting on the ground with his attacker. He reported the incident to police and found himself being charged with the offence of affray.
This week the case was thrown out of court. The court heard that the officer in charge did not interview any witnesses, and had charged the teenager solely on the CCTV collected. The magistrate said it was clear the police had failed to investigate the incident.
USA: Southern Baptists vow to overturn marriage equality
Southern Baptists met in Dallas, Texas this week for their national meeting and voted to work towards a national ban on same-sex marriage, even though the USA changed its laws a decade ago.
More than 10,000 church representatives gathered at the annual meeting of the USA’s largest Protestant denomination.
The same motion called for a recognition of only two genders, encouraged people to enter heterosexual marriages and have children, and called for a ban on all pornography. No debate was held on the topic, and the motion was adopted.
New documentary film celebrates Carl Bean
Decades before Lady Gaga was proudly singing “Born This Way”, underground disco star made waves with a different song with the same name.
This week at the Tribeca Film Festival a new documentary celebrating his life and achievements made its debut Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard documentary has been described as insightful and beautiful.
Bean founded the Unity Fellowship Church in Los Angeles and fought for a version of Christianity that accepted people regardless of their sexuality while standing up to racism and homophobia.
G Flip reimagines a pop classic for a non-binary generation
Australian artist played a Pride month concert for MTV this week and performed a new version of The Weather Girls It’s Raining Men, except it’s now It’s Raining Them.
The pronoun flipped song was originally written Paul Jabara and Paul Schaffer, but they couldn’t find any one to record it. Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer and Cher reported all turned the tune down.
Finally the backing singer duo Two Tons O’ Fun made up of Martha Wash and Izora Armstead recorded the song and it was a massive hit. They’d previously been the backing singers for disco legend Sylvester and changed their name to The Weather Girls to match the song.
Martha Wash chatted to OUTinPerth about recording the song back in 2011.
Polish politician smashes LGBT exhibition in Polish parliament
Far-right politician Grzegorz Braun, who is a member of the European Parliament, took offence at an exhibition about Poland’s LGBTIQA+ communities that was on display in the Polish parliament.
Footage showed the MP tearing down displays, folding them in half and throwing them to the floor. The parliament’s security have been criticised for failing to step in and stop the attack.
The incident did draw condemnation from the parliament’s speaker Szymon Hołownia, who ordered that Braun be banned from entering the parliament.
MEP Braun, who destroyed an exhibition in our building today and was led out of it by guards, is banned from entering the Polish parliament from today,” Holownia wrote on social media.
It’s not the first time the politician has had a violent reaction to an LGBTIQA+ exhibition. In March he spray painted over photographs at a exhibition being held in Opole in the country’s south.
