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Missouri Transgender Healthcare Ban

A federal judge in Missouri has denied a preliminary injunction on SB 49 the state's anti-transgender healthcare ban so it's now in effect. Missouri's SB 49 bans healthcare for transgender youth & for adults who are incarcerated as well as banning Medicaid from reimbursing costs for transgender healthcare including for adults. Aro Royston, Board Secretary for PROMO Missouri stated, “We are enraged not only has our government & elected officials failed us, but now our justice system has failed to do its job in protecting the most vulnerable of our population. The courts told the transgender community, parents of gender-expansive youth & the entire LGBTQ+ community that we do not exist, that we do not have the right to make our own medical decisions or the right to bodily autonomy. There is no categorical ban like this in the world making the actions of the Missouri State Government the most egregious in history." Justice Horn a Missouri community leader, chair of the City of Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ Commission & formerly the NCAA's first out gay multicultural college wrestler concluded, “Today is a dark day for civil rights in the state of Missouri. Missouri’s state government has successfully stood in the way of access to life saving care for so many of our community’s youth. They may win this legal battle, but the fight for greater access to gender-affirming care will continue because it has to; our youth deserve nothing less from us. To our community’s trans youth, we’re not going to rest until this injustice is corrected here in Missouri. Know that you’re not alone in this fight—we see you & we’re going to continue to fight for you.”                 For More Info… 

 

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Queen Las Vegas Grand Opening Event

Q Group Hospitality & LGBTQ nightlife impresario & visionary Eduardo Cordova will debut the highly anticipated Queen Las Vegas on Friday September 1st at 9P. Queen is a chic mid-century modern style boutique hotel, restaurant, gaming lounge & nightclub located on Las Vegas Boulevard making it the only LGBTQ property on the iconic Strip. For the grand opening Queen Las Vegas will make its foray into the LGBTQ scene with a little help from RuPaul's Drag Race alum Shangela, media personality Perez Hilton & Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman herself among Queen Las Vegas’ resident drag queens. Queen will host guests from around the world, the community, celebrities & tastemakers alike providing a safe space for all to live out loud, proud & celebrate self-expression, inclusiveness & diversity. Queen Las Vegas introduces brunch, dinner & day & nightlife experiences offering guests Californian-inspired cuisine from Executive Chef Natalia Delgado. Guests can experience Queen Las Vegas’ dining options from an intimate booth in the main dining lounge, lounging on the chic patio or overlooking the lively social scene from Queen’s VIP tables. Beginning in late September & then every Saturday & Sunday thereafter comes Queen’s Drag Brunch with the ultimate drag show with a full Rupaul’s Drag Race cast of characters ready to sashay & slay.  Brunch attendees can watch Vegas’ fabulous queens steal the spotlight on upcoming Saturdays & Sundays starting at 11A. Queen Las Vegas is located at 1215 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Queen Las Vegas’ restaurant & bar will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with nightly DJ sets starting at 9P. 
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Best LGBTQ Friendly Campuses Top 30

Campus Pride has released its annual Best of the Best list of the top 30 colleges & universities for LGBTQ students. The annual ranking recognizes campuses across the country for their LGBTQ friendly policies, programs & practices. The Top 30 recognizes these institutions’ efforts to create safe & welcoming campuses for LGBTQ students, staff & faculty. Shane Mendez Windmeyer, Campus Pride Founder, CEO & Executive Director stated, “The Best of the Best list was first created in 2009 as a way to showcase colleges & universities that were committed to offering safe & inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ students, so that students & families could make informed choices about where to pursue higher education. In today’s climate, which finds LGBTQ+ identities being used as political talking points & laws being weaponized against LGBTQ+ people, the commitment to creating campuses that welcome and protect LGBTQ+ students cannot be taken for granted. The colleges & universities that made our list this year deserve this highest recognition for the efforts they have made and continue to make.” Due to the passage of anti-LGBTQ state laws in Texas & Florida Campus Pride excluded from consideration all colleges & universities from both states in the 2023 Best of the Best list. Windmeyer concluded, “It is important that prospective students & families know that these Texas & Florida laws endanger & harm LGBTQ+ people & create a hostile & unwelcoming learning environment before going to school there.” Since 2001 Campus Pride has been the leading national organization dedicated to building future LGBTQ & ally leaders creating safer communities at colleges & universities. 
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Provincetown Swim For Life 2023 Events

Celebrating 36 years as a community tradition the Provincetown Community Compact is presenting their annual Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla fundraiser. First on Friday September 8th there will an optional swimmer’s orientation at 1P & a kayak orientation at 2P & at 8P there will be a celebration of Life Concert at the UU Meeting House at 8P. Then on September 9th swimmers will swim 1.2 miles along the East End shoreline from Harbor & Breakwater Hotels at Snail Road to Cannery Wharf Park (formerly East End Waterfront Park). Swim begins at 8:30A. A parallel Swim for Life also takes place September 9th at Wellfleet’s Great Pond at 9A. Jay Critchley, Director of The Compact stated, “We are thrilled to be back at the town’s spectacular waterfront park & welcome swimmers, kayakers, volunteers, safety boaters & our fans from across the country.” The Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla fundraiser has raised over $6M for AIDS, women’s health & the community. Last year it attracted over 350 swimmers including 33 swimmers “Swimming in Place” around the country. Over 100 volunteers are invited to assist on land & sea including kayakers. Transport to the start will be provided by the Funk Bus & the famous Mermaid Brunch will be catered by Far Land Provisions with the world-traveling Zoe Lewis providing the music. Watch parties along the shore are organizing to cheer the swimmers on. The public is invited to share this post-Labor Day tradition along the shore & greet swimmers at the finish line at Cannery Wharf Park where there will be food, beverage and entertainment. You can also register to swim in your own favorite place on your own schedule. 
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In League with Devils Exhibit Extended

The Luce Center for the Arts & Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC has extended its exhibition In League with Devils by Michael Petry exploring forgotten Gods, resurrected rituals & queer desire until August 31st. Michael Petry is a leading multi-media artist, author & director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in London, UK. Stephen Fry stated, “Michael Petry celebrates the ceremonial, memorializes the mythical & acknowledges, honors & explores the deeper spirits within us whom we all feel & hear yet have always found hard to name. Our Gods our devils.” Michael Petry concluded, “In order for there to be Gods there has always had to be devils & artists, queer people, others in general, have always been labelled as bad, evil, devils. I feel like an archaeologist sifting through the sands of time to uncover the old stories, the old myths, the old beliefs on which modern believers act. I have bathed in the spirit of the ancients. Marduk & Thor, Brigit & Ra & Janus & Seth are only a few of the now-mythologized Gods of old. They are no longer held in the respect they were, but does that stop them from being Gods? Is it simply time that morphs a God into a myth & if so, what of the current Gods & devils? Will they, too, just become stories told around a campfire? If American Christian Nationalism is any indication, I know I am better off In League with Devils!” The exhibition is curated by Aaron Rosen, PhD, director of the Luce Center for the Arts & Religion. In League with Devils is accompanied by an eponymous hardback book with essays by Petry & more. 
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Alabama Criminalizes Trans Healthcare

A Trump appointed U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a ruling allowing Alabama to enforce its law criminalizing providers of gender-affirming care. The decision allows SB184 that passed in April 2022 to take effect & Alabama healthcare professionals will soon be banned from providing medically necessary healthcare for trans adolescents for the treatment of gender dysphoria, including hormone therapy & puberty blockers. Allison Scott, Director of Impact & Innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality stated, “We are living through a period of unprecedented cruelty toward transgender people & it should make every American ashamed that most of this cruelty is falling on the shoulders of children. This ruling from the 11th Circuit is the latest example of the exhausting whiplash that families are facing – taking every step to care for their children, then needing to repeatedly pivot to other options. We are honored to be able to help & heart-broken that the support is so necessary right now.” Corey Harvard, Executive Director of Prism United in Mobile concluded, “This decision is devastatingly malicious – these judges are knowingly harming young people across Alabama. It is a heart-breaking development & a blow to youth who simply want to live as their authentic selves. To every trans youth or parent of a trans youth, please know: We see you, we are here for you & we are ready to fight this harmful, politically-motivated, anti-science decision until trans youth have access to the healthcare they deserve.” Alabama families of transgender youth are now eligible to apply for support from the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP). 
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The Dinah Celebrating 32 Years (AUDIO)

This week I talked with Mariah Hanson, founder & producer of The Dinah the most renowned annual music festival for queer women that’s celebrating its 32nd year & takes place September 20th through September 24th in Palm Springs, CA. The Dinah continues its legend with a show-stopping all-female entertainment line-up at one of Palm Springs’ most historic hotels The Margaritaville formerly The Riviera. This glamorous venue will host The Black & White Ball in the Grand Ballroom Friday night September 22nd with headliner Doechii one of today’s most magnetic rappers. The Dinah mix on Friday night will also feature Black Box who has been keeping millions of fans dancing beneath disco balls & neon lights for 3 decades. Then on Saturday night at The Hollywood Party Princess Nokia the electrifying gender nonconforming queer NY Rapper & newest star to be is set to deliver an explosive headlining performance. Of course, during the daytime there will be The Dinah’s legendary pool parties showcasing a string of galvanizing queer emerging performers. FYI don’t miss The L-Word Pool Party on Saturday September 23rd as Phem one of the most prominent up & coming queer indie genre-defying singers will be performing poolside to get your swim on. Throughout the festivities The Dinah will also present world-famous DJs, go-go dancers, red carpet events with celebrity guests, dance parties, meet & greets & so much more. OUTTAKE MEDIA has been a proud Media Sponsor of The Dinah for the last 7 years & we’ll be onsite broadcasting all the festivities for our global LGBTQ audience. I talked to Mariah about what she hopes to accomplish with The Dinah this year & her spin on our LGBTQ issues. LISTEN  
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