LGBTQ Breaking News Service

The San Francisco 49ers announced plans Thursday morning to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month, unveiling the new 2021 49ers Pride Collection, a first of its kind, as well as plans for a new ‘Meet the Faithful’ series and their annual Activism in Sports Panel.

With 49ers PRIDE, the first official NFL fan club to engage and support LGBTQ+ and allies, the San Francisco 49ers announced yesterday morning their plans to celebrate June LGBTQ+ Pride Month, featuring a new, genderless, two-piece collection designed by 49ers’ own Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Hannah Gordon.

The 49ers PRIDE collection is the first gender-neutral retail line released by an NFL team, and the franchise is using the PRIDE t-shirts and crops as an opportunity to further engage with their audience while creating space for people to feel comfortable and recognized.

“This collection is about being seen and celebrated in every sense. It represents the individuality, spirit, and love of our fans,” said Hannah Gordon, 49ers Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel and designer of the collection. “I love seeing how our fans wear these pieces and express their style. Doing it your own way is faithful to the Bay.”

In partnership with Fanatics, the 49ers have released a handful of black and white shirts and crop tops with different sleeve lengths, all donning a bright, color-blasted San Francisco 49ers logo.

“As a global brand ourselves, we love to work with other global brands, as well as with local brands when possible, to amplify our message and share it with larger audiences that might not have been reached,” Gordon told SFist in an exclusive interview. “It’s very authentic to us as part of the Bay Area, but as a global brand we can bring this message to the entire world.”

100% of the 49ers proceeds from the merchandise will go to SF LGBT Center, Oakland LGBTQ, Center and The LGBTQ Youth Space, as the Niners organization expands on the $150,000 they have donated since 2005 to local and national nonprofits that support and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, tripling down on their commitment to the Bay.

Throughout the month of June, 49ers PRIDE will also be releasing a new video series, Meet The Faithful, in which die-hard Niner fans who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community talk about what it means for them to be ‘Faithful To The Bay’. The series will contain several feature-content pieces, telling stories through music, imagery, and real life experience.

“We hope the takeaway from this series is that no matter how you identify, you’re always welcome with the 49ers,” said Jenni Luke, 49ers VP, Community Impact. “It is also important that we encourage athletes of all ages to be themselves.

“Sports is something that reveals character and builds character in a way that almost nothing else in school or in work can,” Gordon echoed. “I want everyone to have an opportunity to play sports, and have it be a positive experience. And I want people to be themselves. If you’re not yourself, how could you be a leader? Sports develops leaders. It’s not fully possible to lead unless we feel safe to feel ourselves.”

On June 22nd, the 49ers will also host the 2021 49ers PRIDE LGBTQ+ Activism in Sports Panel for the third consecutive year. Those who attended the first virtual iteration in 2020 were able to interact and learn from a fun conversation that brings together a group of different voices. The panel will be moderated by NFL Media’s Kimberly Chexnayder, and she will be joined by Senior Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the NFL, Sam Rapoport, with San Jose Sharks Forward, Kurtis Gabriel, and  former MMA Fighter, Fallon Fox. The four members of the panel plan to discuss their experiences as out and allied persons in the world of professional sports and the normalization of LGBTQ+ athletes.

With such polarizing feelings surrounding the role of athletes in activism across the world today, it can feel intimidating or even precarious to take part in such a polarizing dialogue. There are still too many who believe that athletes lack the right to use their platform to speak on things unrelated to their sport, as the sentiment of ‘shut up and dribble’ is constantly hurled at them in interviews and online. Yet Gordon sees the convergence of being an athlete and being an activist as inevitable.

“This is just a part of our game,” Gordon explains. “Sport is a microcosm of society and always has been. Sports are a platform for creating conversation in society and this is really a continuation of a centuries long tradition throughout history.”

“It’s not so much that we have to encourage and celebrate activism in sports,” Gordon continued, “it’s actually just an inevitable part of sports. When we recognize that, it becomes more about how do we take what’s already here, examine it, and use it to make our industry better, and make our game better?”

Helping and including others is something that Hannah Gordon has made a career of, and she continues to use sports as a vehicle to reach back to an increasing number of people.

“The desire to help others should be something every human being feels,” she says. “It’s difficult for me that there are those who don’t feel that desire. It really is part of our human spirit that we are intensely social creatures.”

“One of the reasons I love sports, it’s a people business,” she explains. “The core business we’re in is bringing thousands of different people into a communal space, giving people that opportunity to have a collective experience and feel this bond. Reaching back to other people is just an extension of that.”

49ers chief administrative officer and general counsel Hannah Gordon shares a challenge that comes when she’s the only woman in a room and her hope to “open the door for anyone for whom the door is closed.”

Full story by @raganclark: https://t.co/XO6BgxzvGU pic.twitter.com/ObXZI7TvfU

— AP NFL (@AP_NFL) March 29, 2021

Gordon has spent 10 years with the 49ers and enters her fourth as the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, overseeing Public Affairs and Strategic Communications, Risk Management, Community Relations, Fan Engagement, the 49ers Museum, the 49ers Foundation, and advises on all legal issues involving both the football team and Levi’s Stadium.

Her wealth of experience and expertise has put her in a position of great influence, and many people throughout the NFL and the game of football, not just within the organization, lean on her for support and direction.

Between her two titles, Gordon has her hand in just about every aspect of the goings-on of the organization, and it’s one of her favorite parts of the gig.

“What I love is there’s a little bit of everything, you get to play a part in everything that touches the team,” Gordon elaborated. “Whether it’s a stadium sign, a beautiful new retail line, a contract, or how we’re showing up in the wake of a tragedy, there’s lots of variety.”

With all of that authority comes a ton of responsibility and exposure, and being a woman in a male-dominated field, especially the sports industry, comes with its own host of statistically documented challenges and shortcomings. Yet Gordon tries to look past the female vs. male comparisons, joking she has no idea what it’s like to lead as a man, being a woman herself.

“Something particularly awesome about being female in this role, and it’s hard to know not being male, comes with the opportunity to help others, and respond to their challenges. It can be a lot of pressure, because then you don’t feel like you’re having to represent just yourself, but half of humanity. I want to represent well and don’t want to let anyone down.”

It’s hard enough to represent your own self faithfully and suitably on any given day, even having your own full experience to draw from. Yet, as a consequence of her role in the organization, Gordon often finds herself answerable to the franchise’s response to anything and everything. And in the current socio political climate, being a white woman in that position can make for a peculiar situation.

With so much civil unrest and conflicting discourse surrounding the treatment of Black Americans in this country, it would be burdensome for anyone to be accountable for responding to the Black Lives Matter movement, let alone leading the charge. However, Gordon downplayed her own role, or the notion of her as the face of anything within the franchise, and spoke to what it means to be a part of the 49ers family.

“Our response to BLM has been driven collectively within the organization, including players, our Black employee resource group (49ers BUILD), a lot of voices,” Gordon said. “It’s important to have all the voices at the table when talking about issues like that.”

“Being someone who sits at that table, it’s important to have the ability to self-reflect on your own identity,” she continued. “I am a white woman in this conversation and what does that mean and how do I listen and learn from others?”

It’s been a long journey for Hannah Gordon to get where she is now, and for someone who says she always knew she wanted to go to law school to stay in sports, she admits it wasn’t her first dream. In fact, it was her passion for clothes and styling as a young girl that led her to being the lead designer on this newest edition of 49ers PRIDE t-shirts.

“I didn’t grow up watching football, I wanted to be a fashion designer,” Gordon said in a Zoom interview with SFist. “This was the fulfillment of a dream of mine to design my own two-piece capsule collection.”

“Life has a funny way of coming full circle,” she explained. “Skills we acquire along the way will always serve us later.”

But Gordon certainly didn’t get here alone, and credits a handful of mentors and people she looked up to, women she followed closely along her journey.

“When I was in college at UCLA writing for the Daily Bruin, I was always watching the women on the sidelines,” Gordon recalled. “Pam Oliver and Michele Tafoya were huge inspirations. Women like Andrea Kramer. When I was able to be an intern at the Raiders, I was able to look up to Amy Trask. I always feel guilty because I could always list 20 women who encouraged me or pushed me to get to another stage or level or just be better at my craft.”

“No one does this alone,” she reiterated.

Stay tuned for more announcements from the 49ers, and head over to 49ers.com/Pride to purchase pieces from the collection and get more details about everything happening in and around the organization for June Pride month.

Top Image: Courtesy of San Francisco 49ers

Pride events in the Carolinas kick off in Durham the last week of May and continue throughout the Carolinas during spring, summer and fall.

There’s a lot to do in the larger cities and in some of the small towns. However, the COVID-19 Pandemic has and continues to affect most Pride celebrations, just as it has daily living around the globe.

In our compilation, you’ll find a mix of events that are in-person, and virtual.

A few celebrations are attempting to recapture the excitement of large crowds, outdoor events with stage shows, vendor markets and parades, though they are in the minority. 

We’ve tried to be as thorough as possible with this list, but please keep in mind that events everywhere continue to be impacted by the global pandemic. Some Pride celebrations may be smaller than in years before and some may not happen at all. We have tried to list something about every event that we were able to find. If you are a Pride celebration in the Carolinas and you don’t see yours listed here, or you would like to update some details, feel free to contact us so we can add it to the online version of the story.

Confirmed Events

Pride Durham 
May 30 – June 6
Durham, N.C.
According to press info from Pride Durham’s social media sites, many of their Pride activities will be virtual. On May 30, they will kick off their Pride celebration with the online event Rocky Horror Movie Night (7 p.m.-10 p.m.) for those 16 and older. The following day, Pride fans can start their week with two additional virtual happenings. A Pride Flag Raising event will be live-streamed on Facebook on Monday, May 31 and later that evening participants can turn to their phones, tablets or laptops to wind down with some Pride + Peace Yoga at 7 p.m. For those missing in-person Pride events, there will be a Kick-Off Party at Club 717 (officially The Durham Alliance Association Social Club-DAASC) on Friday, June 4. With a variety of virtual events continuing throughout the weekend, Pride Durham will wrap June 6. For more information, visit facebook.com/pridedurham.

OutFest Columbia
June 5
Columbia, S.C.
The one and only Utica Queen (of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame) headlines this South Carolina Pride celebration, to be held at The Vista (1200 block of Park Street, near the intersection of US 378-Gervais Rd.). Be prepared for the zaniness you’ve come to know from this drag diva. Co-hosts Paris LeFaris and Carla Cox headline a full day of Pride festivities along with music grooves by DJ*EZ, live performances by Fendi Moore, Oliver Clothesoff, Don Javi, Leslie Lain, Fendi Moore, Cierra Nichole and more. The Outfest Drag Pageant will continue throughout the day with competition categories in presentation, evening gown, talent and response to onstage questions. The theme is “Be the Rainbow.” For directions, hotel special rates, COVID precautions and more, visit scpride.org.

Chatham County Pride Virtual Film Screening
June 10-17
Pittsboro, N.C.

The Chatham Community Library will host daily virtual screenings of the documentary “Deep Run.” Released in 2015, the film explores the life of a transgender man living in Lenoir County, N.C. The library wanted to focus on small, local areas; demonstrating that LGBTQ people can come from anywhere and should be afforded the same level of respect as any non-LGBTQ individual. The subject of “Deep Run,” Cole Ray Davis, struggles to come out as a lesbian and then later to come out as a transgender man over the course of the film. The Hollywood Reporter review of the documentary offers this summary: 

The threat of being outed at church, where the pastor believes Cole is a nice respectable young man, is especially trying, as the two take their faith very seriously and have little trouble maintaining an inclusive vision of Christianity, despite what they’ve been taught.

The Chatham County Library is encouraging post-screening feedback from all participants. This survey will allow attendees to make suggestions for future Pride Month programs, as well as the implementation of more LGBTQ-inclusionary resources. The film screening will be open to anyone, regardless of county of residence, but does require a password. To request access or inquire about any specifics, email social.library@chathamlibraries.org.

Black Pride Week: Upstate SC
June 21-27
Greenville, S.C.
According to Upstate Black Pride’s website, the weeklong event is an opportunity for marginalized people to enjoy a celebration for the entire community. Events scheduled include a Meet & Greet, Wine Tasting, Pageant, Trans Fashion Show, and multiple After Parties galore. Get your grass skirt ready for a Pride Luau on June 27. The Main Event for the week is the Black Pride Festival, slated for Saturday, June 26 in Falls Park, Downtown Greenville. For more info on Black Pride Week: Upstate SC, visit upstatepridesc.org/black-pride.

Charlotte Black Pride
June 11-18
Charlotte, N.C.

The vision of Charlotte Black Pride (CBP) is to empower the hearts, minds and spirits of all LGBTQIA people, while embracing diversity, uplifting the community and working to bring social change. They’ve been working toward these goals for 16 years and are back this year with in-person events and a week’s worth of Pride activities. CBP will kick off the week’s events with their Mr. & Ms. CBP Pageant at Chasers with all the glam and fanfare pride pageants are known for. Later in the week, their annual CBP Town Hall Meeting (Wednesday, June 14) community members will have a chance to discuss and address pertinent LGBT BIPOC issues at the Midwood International Center, where the CBP Expo will take place on Saturday, July 17. This year’s expo will be a slightly scaled-down version because organizers are continuing to work with COVID-19 precautions. Fear not, however, the Expo will still host vendors, community organizations and riveting entertainment. For those still feeling a little iffy about in-person attendance, all events will also be live-streamed. CBP has announced an exciting, culminating event is in the works: the CBP Skyline Brunch, which is planned to be held on the rooftop of a Charlotte Center City High-Rise. For more information visit their website at charlotteblackpride.org or their Facebook page at facebook.com/CLTBlackPride.

Charlotte Pride
Aug. 21-Nov. 23
Charlotte, N.C.

Those dates initially read like an announcement for the longest Pride celebration event in history, but that’s not exactly the case. In a press release from Charlotte Pride, Communications Director Matt Comer explains what’s going on, “Charlotte Pride Season event plans are flexible and elastic, and they can be scaled up or scaled back depending on health and safety benchmarks. Organizers have taken the pieces of a normal festival, parade and Pride Week, and expanded them into a series of unique events and activities that balance a collective desire to return to normal with a clear need and responsibility to ensure the safety, health and well-being of the entire community.”

Here is a run-down on what’s in the works for a Charlotte’s Pride Fall: 

Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service
Aug. 21-22
Kicking off Charlotte Pride Season with a community-wide opportunity to give back. Volunteer and service opportunities throughout Charlotte being on what would have been the 2021 festival and parade dates.

Charlotte Pride Interfaith Service
Sept. 12
Charlotte Pride’s traditional Interfaith Service, this year hosted in a new location with expanded opportunities for fellowship.

Pride Night: A Charlotte Pride Concert Event
Sept. 17
Slated to be a day-long concert event featuring local, regional and national LGBTQ artists and entertainers. 

Charlotte Pride’s Pop-Up Pride Festival
Sept. 18 
A truly unique, truly local celebration of Pride in the Queen City, the Pop-Up Pride Festival will feature special zones and activities throughout Uptown, providing a familiar festival feel while avoiding the full crowds that normally attend the festival.

Charlotte Pride Parade
October
Charlotte Pride plans to host a normal, in-person parade in October. A final date will be announced soon. 

Reel Out Charlotte
Nov. 5-7
The Queen City’s Annual LGBTQ Film Festival returns to Camp North End for a weekend of LGBTQ short and feature films.

Charlotte Pride Community Empowerment Conference and Community Job Fair
Nov. 13
An expansion of the 2019 Charlotte Trans Pride Job Fair, this one-day event will bring together educational and community-building workings with a job fair expo for all those seeking new work and exploring career potential. For additional information visit charlottepride.org/pride2021.

OBX PrideFest
Sept. 10-12
Nags Head, N.C.

Outer Banks PrideFest is planned for this fall, currently slated for Sept. 10-12. This year marks OBX PrideFest’s 10th Anniversary and the only reason the organization’s website mentions possible cancellation is a hurricane or a rise in widespread COVID-19 rates. The main portion of the festival will likely be on a Saturday afternoon (as always, from 1:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.) and host concerts, merchant vendors, restaurant vendors, microbrews and craft and nonprofit vendors at the Creef/Davis town park on the historic waterfront in Manteo, N.C. It is truly one of the most scenic places one could be for a PrideFest. This year, OBX PrideFest is not offering Pride Passes for their paid events, so they are encouraging participants to purchase tickets in advance through their website at obxpridefest.com.

Blue Ridge Pride
Sept. 25
Asheville, N.C.

If you enjoy Asheville, you’ll love Blue Ridge Pride. Blue Ridge Pride is back, outside and proud. After over a year of pandemic isolation, Blue Ridge Pride organizers are excitedly planning many 2021 pride events, including their Sept. 19, Pride Pageant (open to all forms of Drag Entertainment) and their Festival and Welcoming WNC Procession on Saturday, Sept. 25. They call it a procession because there are no floats or grand marshals. It’s a walking only event and it starts Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. The festival will begin shortly after at 11:00 a.m. Festival activities will conclude that evening at 7 p.m., giving pride goers plenty of time to browse, shop and connect with friends and various LGBTQ groups. 

In case you are interested, there’s still plenty of time to get involved with Blue Ridge Pride activities. You can join the procession, volunteer, vend, participate as an entertainer or provide community education with information tables from local organizations, groups and businesses. Registration is now open for just about any way you’d like to become involved. All the information you could ask for is accessible on their website at blueridgepride.org. 

Myrtle Beach Pride 
Oct. 1 
Conway, S.C.
Thinking about heading to Myrtle Beach for Pride? Friday, Oct. 1, is the kick off for Myrtle Beach Pride at the Main Street Theater in Conway, S.C. We’ve heard they are in talks with a well-known national entertainer. Then on Saturday, Oct. from 12-7 p.m. head outdoors for the Pride in the Park festival at Grand Park. The shindig features live music, entertainment, food trucks and retail vendors. Finally, close things out after dark with a Pride Celebration Party at Pulse Ultra Club. Find more info about other upcoming fundraising events on Pride Myrtle Beach’s Facebook page at facebook.com/pridemyrtlebeach.

Pride Winston-Salem
Oct. 2 and Oct. 15-16
Winston-Salem, N.C.

Events begin with a special Trans Pride event on Saturday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at Washington Square Park. Two weeks later get ready for the annual Pride Winston-Salem Pride weekend, Friday, Oct. 15 to Saturday, Oct. 16. The fun gets started with the annual Pride Parade at 11 a.m. on Fourth Street in the Downtown Arts District. And don’t worry about missing brunch that day! The Pride Festival and Food Truck Rodeo runs just about all day from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. so march your hungry self down to Trade St. for plenty of delicious delicacies from your fave food truck. More details at pridews.org. 

Famously Hot South Carolina Pride
Oct. 22-23
Columbia, S.C.
Columbia is showing their Pride twice this year, it would seem, with The SC Pride Parade and Festival weekend, hot on the heels of Outfest on June 5. Presented by Famously Hot South Carolina Pride, the annual statewide-welcoming celebration includes the SC Pride Parade on Friday, Oct. 22, followed by the SC Pride Festival on Saturday, Oct. 23. Planning is still underway, but more info about the South Carolina Pride celebration (and OUTfest) is available at scpride.org. 

Tentative Events

Charleston Pride 
Sept. 4-11 
Charleston, S.C.
While there is limited information listed on the website, organizers tout there will be no shortage of Drag Artists, Performers, Food Trucks, Walking Tours, a Pride Parade and a closing party at this year’s Charleston Pride Festival. For more info visit charlestonpride.org.

Hendersonville Pride
Sept. 21
Hendersonville, N.C.
Hendersonville Pride is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 21 and will reportedly feature a formal proclamation from the Mayor of Hendersonville, the famed Pride Picnic and other events TBA. For updates, check hendersonvillepride.org.

Salisbury Pride
Sept. 25
Salisbury, N.C.

For 2021, the Salisbury Pride theme is “Together We Can.” While the date for Salisbury Pride has purportedly been confirmed, organizers have not officially released a statement about the event, nor have they confirmed if it will be in-person or virtual. Visit their website for updated information at salisburypride.org.

Port City Pride 
Unspecified September Date 
Wilmington, N.C.
We’re hoping Port City Pride’s festivities in Wilmington will return to Castle St. this year. Who can forget the Pride Bar Crawl or the Fantail Dance Party of 2019? It’s normally held on or about Labor Day Weekend. As of this time, specific events/dates/times have not been confirmed. 

Eastern North Carolina Pride (ENC Pride) 
Unspecified October Date
Kinston, N.C.

According to ENC Pride’s website, the board of directors decided to postpone the ENC Pride festival, originally scheduled for June 20, because of COVID-19 and concern for the safety of attendees, so disregard the countdown clock on the organization’s webpage and read their updated information carefully. 

In lieu of hosting a festival, the ENC Pride board hosted a smaller event, ENC Pride’s Miss Gay America Show on Sunday, May 16 at The Heritage Bar in Kinston. Currently, they have unspecified plans to host the ENC Pride festival in October to coincide with National Coming Out Day. Going forward, ENC Pride’s festival will be in October instead of June.

Alamance Pride 
Unspecified October Date
Burlington, N.C.

Original spring event canceled because of COVID-19 pandemic. Although no details are currently available, the organization is considering holding their Pride event during October in conjunction with National Coming Out Day. Check with their website at alamancepride.org for potential updates.

No Known Events Until Further Notice 

Out Raleigh Pride
Raleigh, N.C.
Purported reboot in 2022.

Fayetteville Black Pride
Fayetteville, N.C.
No current updates.

Gaston Pride
Gastonia, N.C.
No current updates.

Catawba Valley Pride
Hickory, N.C.
No confirmed updates; purported plans for this fall.

Join us: This story is made possible with the help of qnotes’ contributors. If you’d like to show your support so qnotes can provide more news, features and opinion pieces like this, give a regular or one-time donation today.

The New York Times

U.S. Faces Outbreak of Anti-Semitic Threats and Violence

A brick shattering a window of a kosher pizzeria on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Jewish diners outside a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles attacked by men shouting anti-Semitic threats. Vandalism at synagogues in Arizona, Illinois and New York. In Salt Lake City, a man scratched a swastika into the front door of an Orthodox synagogue in the early morning hours of May 16. “This was the kind of thing that would never happen in Salt Lake City,” said Rabbi Avremi Zippel, whose parents founded Chabad Lubavitch of Utah almost 30 years ago. “But it’s on the rise around the country.” The synagogue has fortified its already substantial security measures in response. “It’s ridiculous, it’s insane that this is how we have to view houses of worship in the United States in 2021,” Zippel said, describing fortified access points, visible guards and lighting and security camera systems. “But we will do it.” Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times The past several weeks have seen an outbreak of anti-Semitic threats and violence across the United States, stoking fear among Jews in small towns and major cities. During the two weeks of clashes in Israel and Gaza this month, the Anti-Defamation League collected 222 reports of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and violence in the United States, compared with 127 over the previous two weeks. Incidents are “literally happening from coast to coast, and spreading like wildfire,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s chief executive. “The sheer audacity of these attacks feels very different.” Until the latest surge, anti-Semitic violence in recent years was largely considered a right-wing phenomenon, driven by a white supremacist movement emboldened by rhetoric from former President Donald Trump, who often trafficked in stereotypes. Many of the most recent incidents, by contrast, have come from perpetrators expressing support for the Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel’s right-wing government. “This is why Jews feel so terrified in this moment,” Greenblatt said, observing that there are currents of anti-Semitism flowing from both the left and the right. “For four years it seemed to be stimulated from the political right, with devastating consequences.” But at the scenes of the most recent attacks, he noted, “no one is wearing MAGA hats.” President Joe Biden has denounced the recent assaults as “despicable” and said “they must stop.” “It’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor,” he wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. The outbreak has been especially striking in the New York region, home to the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel. On Friday a brawl broke out in Times Square between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters, and it soon spread to the Diamond District, a part of Midtown that is home to many Jewish-owned businesses. At least one roving group of men waving Palestinian flags shouted abuse at and shoved Jewish pedestrians and bystanders. Video of the scenes spread widely online and drew outrage from elected officials and a deep sense of foreboding among many Jewish New Yorkers. The New York Police Department arrested 27 people, and two people were hospitalized, including a woman who was burned when fireworks were launched from a car at a group of people on the sidewalk. The Police Department opened a hate crimes investigation into the beating of a Jewish man, and a Brooklyn man, Waseem Awawdeh, 23, was charged in connection with the attack. The next day, federal prosecutors charged another man, Ali Alaheri, 29, with setting fire to a building that housed a synagogue and yeshiva in Borough Park, a Brooklyn neighborhood in the city’s Hasidic Jewish heartland. Alaheri also assaulted a Hasidic man in the same neighborhood, prosecutors said. The Police Department’s hate crimes task force was also investigating anti-Semitic incidents that took place last Thursday and Saturday, including an assault in Manhattan and aggravated harassment in Brooklyn. Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, an Orthodox Jewish writer on the Upper East Side, said she had encountered a palpable anxiety among congregants at Park East Synagogue, where her husband serves as a rabbi. “Quite a few” synagogue members had in recent months asked for help planning a move to Israel, she said, and she secured Swiss passports for her own children after watching a presidential debate in October. “I know this sounds crazy because on the Upper East Side there was always this feeling that you can’t get safer than here,” she said. But her fears are not unfounded. Last year, while out in the neighborhood with their young son, her husband was accosted by a man “shouting obscenities, and ‘You Jews! You Jews!” she said. Her son still “talks about it all the time,” she said. Recently, he built a synagogue out of Lego blocks and added a Lego security patrol outside, she said. He is 5 years old. “Nobody cares about things like this because it is just words,” she added. “But what if this person was armed? And what if the next person is armed?” The recent spike is occurring on top of a longer-term trend of high-profile incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States. In Charlottesville, Virginia, activists at the Unite the Right rally in 2017 chanted “Jews will not replace us!” as they protested the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. The next year, a gunman killed 11 people and wounded six who had gathered for Shabbat morning services at the Tree of Life — Or L’Simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh. At a synagogue in a suburb of San Diego in 2019, a gunman opened fire at a service on the last day of Passover. The ADL has been tracking anti-Semitic incidents in the country since 1979, and its past three annual reports have included two of its highest tallies. The organization recorded more than 1,200 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment last year, a 10% increase from the previous year. The number of confirmed anti-Semitic incidents in New York City jumped noticeably in March to 15, from nine the month before and three in January, according to the Police Department. Sgt. Jessica McRorie, a department spokeswoman, said that as of Sunday there had been 80 anti-Semitic hate crime complaints this year, compared with 62 during the same period last year. The attack in 2018 at Tree of Life, in the distinctly Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, was galvanizing for many Jewish leaders. “Every synagogue across the country has increased security since the attack in Pittsburgh,” said Rabbi Adam Starr, who heads Congregation Ohr HaTorah, one of several synagogues along a stretch of road in the Jewish neighborhood of Toco Hills in the Atlanta area. “You look across the street from our synagogue and there’s a big church,” he said. “And the big difference between the church and the synagogue is the church doesn’t have a gate around it.” Starr has stepped up security again within the last two weeks, increasing the number of off-duty police officers on site during Shabbat morning services. For some Jews, the last few weeks have accelerated a sense of unease that has been percolating for years. “We’ve all read about what Jewish life was like in Europe before the Holocaust,” said Danny Groner, a member of an Orthodox synagogue in the Bronx. “There’s always this question: Why didn’t they leave? The conversation in my circles is, are we at that point right now?” Groner does not think so, he was quick to say. But he wonders, “What would have to happen tomorrow or next week or next month to say ‘enough is enough’?” Jews and others were particularly stung by comments by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has spent the past week repeatedly comparing mask and vaccine mandates to the treatment of Jews by Nazi Germany, and by the Republican leadership’s slow response to her remarks. In Salt Lake City, Chabad Lubavitch hosted an event for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot less than 12 hours after the discovery of the swastika on its front door. Zippel told his congregation, “I hope it annoys the heck out of whoever did this.” He was proud, he reflected later, of the way his congregation responded to the defacing of its house of worship. “We do not cower to these sorts of acts,” he said, recalling emails and conversations in which congregants vowed to continue wearing the kipa in public, for example. “The outward desire to be publicly and proudly Jewish has been extremely inspiring.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

You heard it here first: H&M has so many cute items on sale right now, you’ll have a fun time putting together a whole new summer wardrobe. From drawstring tops to satin mini dresses, you’ll find pieces that will effortless transition from day to night. We love making our closet work hard for us, which is why we’re eyeing these 34 pieces that will work for virtually all occasions.

Go ahead and check out these Memorial Day deals. We know these looks will definitely sell out, so get them while you can.