LGBTQ+ Happy Hour This Weekend!

On Sunday, from 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church), LGBTQ+ Falls Church and NOVA Pride will co-host a “No Agenda Happy Hour,” a now-monthly meetup the second Sunday of every month. Now that winter is here, attendees gather in the inside bar (either in the bar, or the event room behind it).

This monthly event is the beginning of LGBTQ+ Falls Church, a new organization seeking to network and organize the community of Falls Church’s LGBTQ+ community and their straight allies. There is no agenda (as the name suggests) for the event, other than coming together and meeting one another!

I’ll be there, as will Evita Peroxide (a NOVA Pride Board member and hostess of the monthly Sunrise Sunset Drag Bingo held in the same space), and other group leadership.
Come find us on Sunday — look for the rainbows!

LGBTQ+ Bars Raided in Russia

On November 30, the Russian Supreme Court outlawed the “international LGBT movement,” designating it as an “extremist organization.”

On November 17, the Russian Justice Ministry filed a motion for the ban, claiming that the LGBT movement promotes “social and religious strife.” No definition of what constitutes an entity within the “international LGBT movement” was given.

Just two days later, Russian media outlet SOTA reported on Telegram that police raided three gay bars and a gay sauna in Moscow. In at least one establishment, word of the raids came enough in advance for patrons to leave. In others, patrons were forced to the ground, their identification photographed before being released.

One week into the new law, queer people in Russia face heightened uncertainty for their futures.

How it Happened

In 2013, Russia passed a law banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations around minors.” This includes any public discussion of LGBTQ+ rights or relationships, anywhere a minor may hear it.
Like the “don’t say gay” bills passed in Florida and several other states, the law was passed under the cloak of “protecting children,” and supporters of the law — including Russian leader Vladimir Putin — repeatedly conflated homosexuality with bestiality and pedophilia.

On December 5, 2022, Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed an expansion of the law, making any public discussion of LGBTQ+ identities illegal for adults.

What it Means

Being officially designated an extremist organization in Russia has significant repercussions.

Russian law punishes any supporter of “extremist activity” with up to two years of income forfeiture or 300,000 rubles, and three years in prison. Using mass media for the same is punishable for up to five years in prison and three years of “deprivation of the right to hold certain jobs.”

“Creation of an extremist community” is punishable with up to 200,000 rubles, four years in prison, and five years of limited employment rights.

Participation in an “extremist community” is punishable with up to 40,000 rubles, three years in prison, two years of limited employment. If a person creates or participates using their “official status,” the punishment is up to 300,000 rubles, two years of income, up to six years in prison, and five years of limited employment.

Perhaps most concerning is the clause that immediately follows: “or without any term.”

Gay Man Mutilated, Murdered in Arizona

The body of Bernardo Pantaleon was found in Mountain View Park in Phoenix, AZ last week.

Pantaleon was beaten and shot multiple times, his body mutilated and naked when found by a passerby in the park.

On Tuesday, three were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in his death: 20-year-old Jose Rodriguez, and 21-year-olds Leonardo Santiago and Manuel Carrasco-Calderon. The trio of suspects, all of whom have confessed to the murder, were also charged with crimes against the dead and assisting a street gang.

In Arizona, “crimes against the dead” apply to individuals who rob graves or illegally store, mutilate, or sexually violate a dead body.

The Police found the suspects through social media posts, including one on Instagram with a photo of Pantaleon’s body.

Pantaleon’s family says they were also sent pictures of his dead body, leading them to believe the murder was motivated by hate.