Tag Archives: California

From the Los Angeles Times: As Hillary Clinton travels to California for a pair of high-dollar fundraisers with film star George Clooney, Bernie Sanders will launch his first paid television advertising in the state with a message highlighting what his presidential campaign sees as a key contrast. The new 30-second spot is called “$27,” a number that has become as …

From the San Diego Union-Tribune: A federal appeals court revived a lawsuit over a man’s public nudity citation Tuesday, ruling there is evidence that San Diego police possibly discriminated against him at the annual gay pride event in Balboa Park. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the lawsuit is headed back to the lower district …

From the Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday charged a 69-year-old man with fatally shooting his son outside the family’s North Hills home because the son was gay. The shooting occurred Tuesday when police responded to a call at the family home and found the bodies of Amir Issa, 29 [photo], and his mother, who was not identified. …

In April 2013, Orange County elementary school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs sued the California Teachers Association, arguing that her mandatory union fees meant that she had been unwillingly forced into financially supporting the union’s advertising campaign against the passage of Proposition 8. Friedrich’s suit was joined by the Christian Educators Association International. Which brings us to today. Via The Atlantic: The …

You may recall that in 2011 a gay man was arrested for “nudity” at San Diego Pride. On Friday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case. The San Diego Reader reports: Do San Diego police officers interpret public nudity laws differently for a gay man at a Gay Pride event than, say, a woman in a g-string …

The president of California State University Los Angeles has cancelled a planned anti-diversity speech by Ben Shapiro, suggesting that it would be better to plan a forum that also includes other viewpoints. Shapiro says he’ll make the speech anyway and is daring the school to arrest him.   Shapiro rants at Breitbart: “The campus fascists have taken over. I pay …

Mandatory condom use by porn performers is already the law in Los Angeles County and the issue will be put to voters statewide in November thanks to a ballot initiative sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. However yesterday state OSHA officials declined to beat voters to the punch. From the Los Angeles Times: The state Division of Occupational Safety and …

From the Bay Area Reporter: A gay California lawmaker wants to ban state-funded travel to states with anti-LGBT laws. Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) has introduced AB 1887, which would end state-funded travel to any state with a law in effect that sanctions or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. The announcement by Low’s …

San Diego’s ABC affiliate reports: For the first time, the military spouse of the year nominee at Naval Base Coronado is gay. “I was the kid who didn’t want to be gay,” Brian Alvarado said. “I was scared.” But, there was no denying it. He met his husband, Matthew Alvarado, online two years ago. Matthew has been an active duty …

From the New York Daily News: Dramatic drone footage has captured California homes on the brink of collapse at the edge of a cliff. Powerful weather caused by El Niño has eroded the land and left several in Pacifica buildings teetering over oblivion. The city declared a state of emergency last weekend partly due to accelerated erosion of the cliffs, …

Several skywriting planes are laying down anti-Trump messages over the Rose Bowl Parade today in Pasadena, California. Among the messages: “Trump Is A Fascist Dictator” and “Trump Loves To Hate Anybody.” Also: “Iowans Dump Trump” and “America Is Great, Trump Is Disgusting.” The messages appear to be from the people behind the website AnybodyButTrump.us. A very short clip is below.

The Los Angeles Times reports: A federal judge in California has ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation falls under the purview of the landmark Title IX law, giving a broader interpretation to the 1972 statute that prohibits sex discrimination in the nation’s schools and colleges. In his 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson said that discrimination …

Suck it, haters! Via the Associated Press: Backers of a proposed ballot initiative that sought to require transgender people to use the public restrooms that correspond with their biological sex say they have failed to qualify the measure for the California ballot. Monday was the deadline for the initiative’s sponsors to submit voter signatures to county election offices for verification. …

The Associated Press reports: All schools in the vast Los Angeles Unified School District have been ordered closed due to a threat, a spokeswoman Ellen Morgan said Tuesday. During a press conference Tuesday officials said they received the electronic threat and were still analyzing it. They said the action was being taken out of an abundance of caution. Schools would …

The Desert Sun reports: George Zander, who was a prominent activist in the Coachella Valley’s LGBT community, died Thursday, his husband said. Zander, 71, died “in loving arms and in very little pain,” his husband, Chris Zander, said in a Facebook post. “His passion and strength has paved the road for many of us to follow and build from. His …

CNN reports: Investigators think that as the San Bernardino, California, attack was happening, female shooter Tashfeen Malik posted a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook, three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation told CNN. Malik’s post was made on an account with a different name, one U.S. official said. The officials did not explain how …

Authorities have begun releasing the names of the 14 people murdered yesterday in San Bernardino. Among those killed was a local gay man who trained disabled adults to work in the Inland Regional Center’s coffee shop. The Los Angeles Times has published a heartbreaking account of how the news was finally broken to the victim’s boyfriend. Their story begins: Ryan …

Late last night the Council For Islamic Relations held a joint press conference with family members of the dead San Bernardino shooter. Business Insider recaps: CAIR executive director, Hussam Ayloush said, “We unequivocally condemn the horrific act that occurred today.” Muzammil Siddiqi, a religious director with the Islamic Society of Orange County, said “we have condemned all violence, everywhere” and …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Two law enforcement sources identified one of the deceased suspects as Syed Farook, an American citizen. Public records show a person named Syed R. Farook was employed by the San Bernardino County Health department as an environmental health specialist, but it was not clear if that was the same person involved in the shooting. The …

NBC News reports: At least 14 people were killed and two suspects were dead Wednesday after up to three people on a mission that authorities described as “possibly terrorism” barged into a holiday party in a California conference room and unleashed a bloodbath. The shooter or shooters fled in a black SUV after the shooting about at 11 a.m. (2 …