The openly gay two-term mayor of Lexington, Ky., has announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the state’s 6th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R).
Gray previously ran for Senate against Sen. Rand Paul (R) in 2016, but was unsuccessful in his bid. However, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Gray won a majority of votes in the counties that comprise the 6th District. The district leans nine point more Republican than the nation as a whole, but Democrats were able to hold onto the seat as recently as 2010.
Were he to be successful, Gray would become the first out LGBTQ member of Congress from the state.
Gray faces two other candidates seeking to become “firsts”: former Marine Corps fighter pilot Amy McGrath, who would become the first woman elected to Congress from Kentucky as a Democrat, and State Sen. Reggie Thomas (D-Lexington), who would become the first African-American elected to Congress from the Bluegrass State.
Gray hopes to run on his experience in both the public and the private sector, incorporating lessons from his experience running his family’s company, Gray Construction, as well as from his time as mayor, to prove he can get things accomplished in a Congress often criticized for its inaction.
As an openly LGBTQ elected official, Gray was involved in efforts advocating for the passage of pro-LGBTQ ordinances in Lexington and in several other Kentucky towns or cities. In total, eight municipalities have adopted such ordinances. In June, Gray wrote a letter to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra asking him to exempt Lexington from a ban on state-funded travel to states, including Kentucky, with laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Masked attackers in Israel are reportedly using Grindr to lure and entrap members of the LGBTQ community to severely harm them.
According to reports, the assailants are creating fake profiles on the popular dating app and arranging meetings in remote locations in the city of Haifa.
The victims are then ambushed and reportedly stabbed with sharp weapons. A few assailants have attempted to carry out lynchings.
The Aguda, an LGBTQ task force, documented at least ten such incidents in recent months, reports the Jerusalem Post.
But some victims have chosen not to report the attacks, making it more difficult for police to track down and arrest offenders.
Russell T Davies, creator of the British TV series Queer as Folk and the current showrunner of the BBC phenom Doctor Who, says gay society is facing dire peril ever since the presidential election of Donald Trump in November, 2024.
"I'm not being alarmist," Davies told the British newspaper The Guardian. "I'm 61 years old. I know gay society very, very well, and I think we're in the greatest danger I have ever seen."
Davies said the rise in anti-LGBTQ hostility is not limited to the United States, where Trump has signed various anti-LGBTQ executive orders, many geared to diminish and seemingly eradicate the transgender community.
Muhsin Hendricks, the world's first imam to publicly come out as gay in 1996, was shot dead in South Africa on February 15 in what appears to be an ambush. Eastern Cape provincial police confirmed that the 58-year-old was killed in a possible targeted hate crime.
According to police, Hendricks and a driver were inside a gold Volkswagen T-Roc SUV in Bethelsdorp when a silver Hilux double cab stopped in front of the car, blocking its way. Two unknown suspects, their faces covered, exited the cab and fired multiple shots at the VW before fleeing the scene. The driver, who survived the attack, realized that Hendricks had been killed by gunfire.
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