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.
When I was 13, my father took me on a weekend trip to New York City. I remember sitting with him at the Howard Johnson's in Times Square, nibbling on fried clams, and somehow the question of homosexuals arose.
Now, I was an extremely closeted Cincinnati, Ohio, teen back then and had no inkling of the greater depths of my own sexual identity or of being gay in general. But I saw a few flamboyant men on the streets of New York in that summer of 1972 and asked dad about why they acted the way they did.
"They're homosexuals," he said. "They like men." He didn't offer further details.
A popular LGBTQ nightclub in Sacramento, California, is prohibiting patrons who wear MAGA-related attire from entering the establishment.
Badlands, in the city's Lavender Heights district, announced the policy on social media. Management claimed they were motivated to impose the ban after a patron wore a MAGA hat while in the bar, leading some patrons to complain that they were made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
"At Badlands Sacramento, we are committed to creating a space where the LGBTQ+ community and our allies feel safe, welcomed, and respected," TJ Bruce, the bar's owner, wrote in a social media post. "Recently, a guest entered the bar wearing MAGA attire, which led to some discomfort among patrons.
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.
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