LGBTQ Breaking News Service

Owners of a yet-to-be opened café have gone viral after they were accused of “breach of the peace” because they hung a tote bag on their storefront window that read “fuck the police.”

Police, claiming they were heeding complaints from neighbors, attempted to enter the store and take down the bag. One owner asked them to wait outside, and took it down himself. After, they gave police that bag, but then put up an identical, but separate, bag with the same message.

Related: 4 LGBTQ staffers fired from brewpub seeking “a change in culture.” Guess what they meant.

The Pink Peacock is “a queer, yiddish, anarchist vegan community café opening in the southside of Glasgow” in Scotland that will operate on a “pay-what-you-can” structure once it opens its physical location. Their online store already operates on this structure as well, including the sale of the tote bag at a suggested retail price of 10 pounds, or $14.

The café operates on a cooperative basis, being “governed exclusively by its workers and community members.” Although there’s no hierarchical structure, Morgan Holleb, who is bisexual and non-binary, and Joe Isaac, who is also bisexual, co-founded the Pink Peacock. It will operate on a bilingual basis as a vegan Jewish bakery, with an alcohol-free, late night café service “that is centered around queer people.”

They pledge that “everyone [is] welcome (except cops and TERFs.)”

On June 14, Isaac and Holleb were in the still-unfinished business watching television when police came by and said their pink tote bag reading “fuck the police” and displaying in the window needed to be taken down.

“I’m gonna caution a charge of breach of the peace,” the officers said according to Vashti, “I’m gonna charge you, but before I charge you, I’m going to caution you.” They then presented Isaac and Holleb with an “Incident reported” card.

“What they were really doing was… trying to intimidate us,” Holleb said.

Despite not trying to take the bag then, officers returned in just a few minutes and then demanded they take the bag into evidence.

Holleb decided, “Okay, we’ll make a spectacle out of it then.”

In video shared by the Pink Peacock online, Holleb did exactly that. He gave the bag on display in the window to police, but then took the bag he was carrying and not only hung it back up — but duct-taped it.

After seeing he was putting it back up, officers challenged Holleb in inaudible text.

So he took the bag down — just to reverse it, leaving the other side of the bag, which is in Yiddish, visible.

The Yiddish writing reads “daloy politsey” — a slogan known as “down with the police.” He then signed an evidence bag affirming that he provided the bag as requested to police.

While the officers stood in the doorway, he also took out a marker and wrote clearly on the door’s glass, “fuck the police.” Both the phrase and bag remain in the window today.

Isaac and Holleb would only find out the next day that they were in fact being charged, not cautioned, via the local news. British media has heavily maligned Pink Peacock, but Holleb said that beyond one person who tried to paint over their windows this week, they have not faced anywhere near the issues they expected, even since the viral video.

“It really feels like we’ve got the community on our side,” Holleb told Vashti.

According to Holleb, only one woman ever vocalized complaints about the bag’s message, and after talking with her amicably, “She accepted that we weren’t just being contrarians” and left without incident.

Yet, Scotland Police stated that they “Received complaints from the public regarding an item displaying offensive language.” They reported that they charged someone “in connection with a breach of the peace,” although they misgendered Holleb in their statement if that was the person they referred to.

Police also claimed that “the item has been removed from the premises,” which appears to be true. Just not all of Pink Peacock’s items.

The tote bags sold by Pink Peacock are currently sold out, although they pledge they will be restocked, and the store has received over 3,200 pounds, or north of $4,400, in donations and purchases.

David Archuleta, a former contestant on “American Idol,” has spoken out about his sexual orientation, and he is urging people to exhibit compassion toward those who identify as LGBT.

In an Instagram post on Saturday, the American Idol Season 7 runner-up revealed that he is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, encouraging Christians and Mormons to embrace such sexual orientations as being consistent with their religious beliefs, Breitbart reports.

According to the 30-year-old singer-songwriter, he prefers to keep his feelings to himself, but he felt it was “important to share because I know so many other people from religious upbringings feel the same way,”

Archuleta said that he first told his family he was gay in 2014, and that he later identified as bisexual after discovering that he is attracted to both genders.

“I’ve been open to myself and to my close family for some years now that I am not sure about my own sexuality,” he confessed.

“Then I also have learned I don’t have too much sexual desires and urges as most people which works I guess because I have a commitment to save myself until marriage,” he said with a laughing emoji.

He described his condition as bordering asexuality, which webmd defines as an “umbrella term that includes a wide spectrum of asexual sub-identities” such as “cisgender, non-binary, transgender, or any other gender.”

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons), Archuleta emphasized that although this issue creates concerns for others, it’s critical for people of faith to lend a compassionate ear towards those wrestling between “being LGBTQIA+ and a person of faith.”

“Idk what to make of it and I don’t have all the answers. I just invite you to please consider making room to be more understanding and compassionate to those who are LGBTQIA+, and those who are a part of that community and trying to find that balance with their faith which also is a huge part of their identity like myself,” he pleaded.

Archuleta admitted that his road to acceptance had not been an easy one.

“I’ve tried for almost 20 years to try and change myself until I realized God made me how I am for a purpose. And instead of hating what I have considered wrong, I need to see why God loved me for who I am and it’s not just sexuality,” he said.

He said that he didn’t feel “comfortable sharing” his experience, but that he felt it was important to raise awareness among those who are in a similar situation.

The artist encouraged his fans to be more open in their expressions of their views.

“Even if you’re left with so many more questions with faith and sexuality like me, I believe being open to both questions and to faith is how we receive answers. So let’s keep asking and seeking, and having compassion and patience,” he said with a “thank you for listening” and a praying hand emoji to end his post.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

The singer’s plea for Christians to be more compassionate towards those struggling with same-sex attraction should not be shunned. A certain pastor named Ed Shaw, who admitted to struggling with same-sex attraction and homosexuality earlier in his life, says the LGBT community has a “posture of fear” of the church – people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender usually think that evangelical Christians “hate” them.

Christians should not condescending towards Christians struggling with same-sex attraction. Being open to listen to a Christian struggling with same-sex attraction is not enough, however. One has to offer real compassion and love: the love of God in Jesus Christ, which through repentance and by faith in Him saves and redeems mankind from sin and reconciles mankind to God.

This is best illustrated in the story of a formerly gay man named Ken Williams. Like most gays, Williams longed for acceptance and relationship, but eventually realized that he can only find it in Jesus Christ, not in a same-sex partner as the Word of God itself does not promote.

Real love and compassion

Williams was once a gay boy who got exposed to pornography, which led him to feel an attraction towards the same sex. He eventually developed relationships with other boys in the hopes of getting “attention and connection.”

It wasn’t until he wrote his feelings in a letter and shared it with his pastor that he finally found the love that he wanted and needed.

The youth pastor, according to Williams, “lovingly committed” to help him with his feelings of same-sex attraction. The pastor enlisted the help of Williams’ mom and dad who, in turn, also lovingly committed to helping their son get free from his feelings of being attracted to the same sex, which he himself said he didn’t want.

Williams received Christian counseling for five years, eventually realizing the truth that “God’s best plan for us is not to pursue homosexuality.” He also found out that unlike what others say, it’s actually possible to change one’s sexual desires. He said he found the “real inner healing and intimate relationship” that he longed for in Jesus Christ.

The former gay man who realized that he could not find completeness in LGBT “pride” but only in Christ and in community with Bible-believing Christ-followers eventually co-founded Equipped to Love, a ministry that “shows the truth of Biblically-defined sexuality to the LGBTQ community,” as well as the “CHANGED Movement,” a group that provides support and community to those who left their LGBTQ identities to become who they really are in Christ.

He also tells his story in a book, “The Journey Out: How I Followed Jesus Away From Gay.”

Williams’ journey away from gay and into Christ began with real compassion and love – from his youth pastor and his parents who, instead of driving him away, “lovingly committed” to help him know Christ and who he really is according to God’s Word.

Republicans have successfully halted pro-abortion and LGBT-related bills in Congress, according to a report.

The Christian Post said conservative activists and congressional Republicans are celebrating the “stunning” victories from the derailment of pro-abortion and LGBT-related bills by the House of Representatives. The said bills, Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act and the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, were “suspended” by the lawmakers.

The Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act or H.R.3798 was passed in the House of Representatives in September 2020 with the “motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill” based on a “voice vote.” The bill actually “prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from requiring payment from a veteran for any contraceptive item that is required to be covered by health insurance plans without a cost-sharing requirement.”

The bill was referred to the Committee on Veterans Affairs during the 116th Congress. For the 117th Congress, the bill was then introduced as H.R.239 with the same title by its main sponsor California Representative Julia Brownley last January 11.

However, the bill has “failed under suspension” last Tuesday which meant it is “provisionally dead due to a failed vote” that is “a fast-track procedure called ‘suspension'” and “may or may not get another vote.” However, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Wednesday that the “bill may be considered in the week ahead.” The bill is currently “committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union” for printing.

The Christian Post cited Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in saying that the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act includes “emergency contraceptives” and its passing would mean taxpayer money funding “abortifacient drugs.”

“This includes ’emergency contraceptives’ like Plan B and Ella, which act as abortifacients by preventing implantation or ending the life of an embryo before implantation. American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortifacient drugs, but that is exactly what H.R. 239 mandates,” Perkins said in a statement.

On the other hand, the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act intends to “amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require the collection of small business loan data related to LGBTQ-owned businesses.” It was introduced by its main sponsor California Representative Harley Rouda as H.R. 3374 during the 116th Congress “but it did not receive a vote.”

“This bill requires financial institutions to report certain credit application data to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the purposes of enforcing fair lending laws,” the bill’s Summary said.

“Specifically, financial institutions must report this data regarding lesbian-, gay-, bisexual-, transgender-, or queer-owned businesses,” it added. “Currently, this data is reported regarding women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.”

This was reintroduced in the 117th Congress by New York Representative Ritchie Torres under the Financial Services Committee and has already received “1 roll call vote.” Similar with HR239, the bill has “failed” in the House on the “motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill.”

The Christian Post highlighted that House Freedom Caucus Committee Chairman Representative Andy Biggs found the defeat of both bills “stunning” and implies that a restoration of the “balance” in Congress since he said Democrats were trying to “force all their agenda…down our throats” by trying to “change all the rules and traditions of the House.”

HEADQUARTERS, NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Part of LGBT Pride Month each June is having pride in your true self.

That’s the message Risha Grant, author, television host, international speaker and a former Division 1 women’s basketball player, imparted to NAVAIR employees at the national NAVAIR Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month event June 10.

“I haven’t always celebrated Pride [Month] or had pride,” Grant, a self-described bisexual woman, said. “It took me awhile to get to that point.”

Grant said she embarked on a four-step process to “own her authenticity,” which took her more than 30 years and down several different paths.

“I am diversity personified, but so are all you,” she told employees. “We are all diverse. I made my diversity my superpower by owning everything about me.”

First, she redefined “normal,” which meant being true to her sexuality and eschewing some of the lessons she learned growing up. 

“I was told to be normal, but that word means common or standard, and who wants to be that? It isn’t inclusive of everyone. Honor your uniqueness.”

Second, she released the expectations people had of her.

“I had to radically accept myself,” she said. “I had to love myself, and not judge myself.” She told employees to ask themselves, “Are you living in love or living in fear? Be intentional, and ask yourself, ‘Am I being real? Am I living my real life?’” she advised. “Live your life on your terms.”

Third, she embraced inclusion.

“Allow another human being to be who they are for the space they’re taking up in this world,” she said. “Be open-minded, say hello with a smile and include everyone. We owe this world to leave it better than we found it for the people who are coming behind us.”

Grant has coined the term “bias-synapse” to describe how biases can unconsciously color how you view the world and urged employees to let go of the “BS.”

“What is it you can do to become an ally and help someone feel a part of the team?” she asked. “Am I experiencing the world through my ‘bias-sphere’ or how it actually is?” 

Last, she realized her voice and used it to start speaking to shift hearts and minds as an award-winning diversity and inclusion expert.

“Sometimes, you can plant a seed that may not bear fruit for many, many years,” she said, but encouraged employees to keep learning, growing and working to understand their biases and live their truth.

LGBT Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village. This year’s theme was “Pride in All Who Serve.”

In the past 16 years, tantra teacher Jason has worked with around 12,000 men.

Jason believes tantra is one of the ways to help gay men delve further into their self-discovery.

However, for many years, Jason – who went to a catholic school and grew up in Trowbridge, in Wiltshire – thought he was the only gay person in the world.

READ MORE: The 71 most influential LGBTQ+ people in Bristol right now

“As a teenager, I used to go to bed asking god to take it away because I couldn’t cope with it,” he continued. “Coming out as gay is a form of spiritual awakening – you grow up in a heteronormative world but, as a gay man, you have to step out of that.

“It takes a lot of courage and honesty to do that – there is a lot of men that do not do it.

“Sexual identities are far more varied now and society is a lot more accepting.”

Jason came out to his family when he was around 18 as he didn’t want to lead a double life, having joined a youth group for gay men in Bristol at the time.

He said this group saved him and he made friends for life there.

Jason – who moved to Bristol when he was 21 but now spends his time between the UK, the US and Thailand – said he first became interested in helping men after working at the Men as Survivors Helpline (MASH) in his late 20s.

“I used to listen to men calling about sexual abuse and I felt I didn’t have the skills to help these people so I went to do training at university,” he said.

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Jason then went to the University of Bristol to train as a counsellor, doing a placement at Horfield Prison as part of this, and qualifying at the age of 33.

The tantra teacher said that, in his experience, people typically get to a point in their lives when they start to ask themselves questions as they feel not everything is working as they would like it to.

Jason said that, when people live their lives just around what they like, their views of the world start to narrow and tantra is about teaching people to go beyond their preferences.

He said that gay marriage has been brilliant in bringing equality but that, in his experience, the dynamics of a gay marriage are quite different to a heterosexual one, with it being quite common for gay men to have open relationships.

The 48-year-old – who runs Tantra4gaymen – said: “Sex is a metaphor of who you are, it is when you are at your most vulnerable, and can’t hide away.

“Tantra provides gay men with liberation from themselves, helping them to get in touch with who they are, navigate boundaries, and explore different ways of interacting with others.”

He said tantra gives people freedom, adding men come to his sessions for a variety of reasons such as feeling stuck or looking for something beyond talking therapy.

Jason said that people may come in for a weekend of tantra massage but that he teaches a lot more than that.

He added tantric sex is just a small part of tantra and described sexuality as the gateway in, adding what happens is that a whole world with love at its centre opens then.

The teacher described tantra as a “spiritual pathway to awakening”.

“Talking about sexuality is what brings people in,” he said. “Tantra is about truth and love.

“I am getting people in touch with parts of themselves that are beyond the mind.

“Tantra uses sexual energy to connect with places beyond your mind or your day to day.”

Jason said it is about bringing awareness and feeling to sex, comparing tantric sex with fast food and a Michelin-starred meal.

“Tantra is that 12 course meal with wine pairing,” he added. “Once you have tasted it, that is what you want.

“We help people to really enjoy a Michelin-starred meal.”

Tantra4gaymen is open to all men who love men, he said, adding it was important to be able to go into that space knowing you would be with people like you who have similar interests.

He set it up in 2008, starting a couple of years earlier as a hobby, but it is only in the last few years that it has really grown.

Five years ago, they expanded into the US and he now has 22 facilitators teaching his work in various countries, Jason continued.

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These days, Tantra4gaymen offers a variety of options, including workshops, retreats and a festival in Glastonbury.

Around 130 men go to their festival from all over the world, Jason said, because they know they are going to experience something profound and loving.

Jason said he had taught heterosexual groups before and it was very different to what he is used to teaching.

He said that the idea that tantra is about having hours-long orgasms is a stereotype, saying tantra is about using your sexual energy as part of a spiritual journey.

He added it was like yoga, but more interesting, and explained: “Sex and sexuality is part of a spiritual journey – it is a starting point.

“In a tantra workshop, you can expect to become undressed at some point and to experience touch.

“We do different meditations, breathwork and we also work with sexual energy.

“It is completely different from normal sex.

“The way I describe tantric sex is two or more people going in to have sex with a spiritual intention, to discover what is beyond being horny.

“You are paying attention to what is happening.”

Jason said that, in tantra, he was looking for a way to help people heal sexual trauma as well.

He said that, in his case, he had experienced different forms of abuse and spent a decade receiving counselling, but that talking therapy could only go so far and that there are different stages to healing sexual trauma.

Tantra allows people to reach different spaces, he said, and can help people to learn how to express themselves, experience pleasure, trust and set boundaries, for instance.

“A lot of men that come to me have experienced sexual trauma,” he continued. “I also get a lot of men that have got problems with chemsex.

“In their 30s, they are desensitized and can not have sex in a normal way without taking drugs.

“They are not in touch with their bodies and underneath maybe there are issues of not wanting to be gay or sexual.

“Tantra gives them a path back into their bodies so they can feel again and not feel shame.”

Jason said tantra gives people expanded experiences of sex, going beyond what they already know in what he described as “toe-curling orgasms”.

People can then take these sexual experiences to their lives, he continued, and said that tantra can transform people’s lives, with students often making changes as a result of it.

This could be in their sex lives but also in their jobs or how and where they live, among others.

Jason has now been with his husband Ingo for 16 years, meeting in a tantra workshop in Germany while training.

He said that a lot of people form relationships in tantra, but that it is not very common for people to end up getting married.

In his case, they married eight years ago in Glastonbury for Jason’s 40th birthday.

“What people do not realise is that they have a choice in how they see the world – that is very spiritual, but also a very every day thing,” he continued. “You can see the world in any way you want.

“Once you start living a freer life, you can not go back.”

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