LGBT

A Ukrainian woman trapped in her Kyiv home says she's fighting a "war within a war," because she's transgender and worries transphobic Ukrainians -- who are now armed -- might get her before the Russians.

Zi Faámelu says "it was hell" living as a trans person in the capital of Ukraine, even before the Russian invasion, but now she's unable to flee out of fear leaving her apartment will be more dangerous for her.

While all her friends and neighbors have been able to evacuate the city, she told CBS News, "I don't want to go outside. I am literally scared for my life."

Zi says the country isn't accepting of LGBTQ folks, and she's painfully aware that many of the men who've stayed behind as volunteer soldiers have guns. So, in a twisted way, she thinks staying trapped in her home -- as bombs and missiles explode around her -- feels like the better option.

Even if she makes it to the border, Zi says she'll be blocked from leaving because "If you have male gender on your passport [as a woman] they will not let you abroad... they will not let you through."

Colton Underwood knows a thing or 2 about proposals, and now the former 'Bachelor' is finally engaged to be married.

Colton and his BF, Jordan C. Brown, made the big leap over the weekend in the scenic Cali town of Big Sur ... where they were celebrating CU's birthday.

He told People, "I'm extremely happy! 2021 was the most transformative year of my life. Starting 2022 off with my best friend, teammate and now fiancé is something I never thought was going to be possible."

Back in September, we saw Colton and Jordan hanging together on the beaches of Hawaii. They started dating earlier in the summer of 2021 ... fresh on the heels of Colton publicly coming out in April.

Following his Netflix documentary, "Coming Out Colton," he didn't consider himself on the market because he wasn't actively trying to date anyone. That changed when he met Jordan ... or as Colton said back then, "Since then I found somebody and I am very much in love."

On Colton's season of "The Bachelor," he made a little history ... as it was the first time there was no marriage proposal in the finale. He and Cassie Randolph, who made it to the finale, dated for a while before calling things off.

Phil Mickelson says the insensitive comments he made recently about a new Saudi golf league were taken "out of context and without my consent" ... but the golf star is still issuing a mea culpa nonetheless.

Phil broke it all down in a lengthy statement on his social media page Tuesday ... just days after he admitted to supporting the formation of a new Saudi golf league, despite what he called the country's "horrible record of human rights."

"We know they killed (Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights," Mickelson said, according to The Fire Pit Collective.

"They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape how the PGA Tour operates."

Phil went on to say that he believed the new Saudi league -- which was reportedly trying to sway top American golfers with millions of dollars in cash -- could force big and necessary changes on the PGA Tour.

While Phil said Tuesday the comments were "off record" and out of context -- he admitted that the words were offensive and regrettable regardless.

"It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words," Mickelson said in his statement. "I'm beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this."

He continued, "My intent was never to hurt anyone and I’m so sorry to the people I have negatively impacted. This has always been about supporting the players and the game and I appreciate all the people who have given me the benefit of the doubt."

Phil then hinted he could take a step away from the game for a while following the controversy ... saying he "desperately" needs "some time away."

"Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider is now flush with cash, so she essentially went all country -- as in "take this job and shove it!!!"

Amy's way too polite to say "shove it," but she is indeed quitting her job as a software engineer. She tells us the whole "Jeopardy!" experience has been life-changing, and that includes employment.

She assumed the interactions and business discussions she was having during her run would fade away once she was dethroned. As she put it ... "That turned out to be completely incorrect."

She says the emails and meetings have made it clear ... there's more out there! She's also enjoying the life of a newly-minted celeb.

Amy went on to share what career avenues she's mulling over .... writing a book and podcasting are at the top of her list. She also says she's looking for anything educational because that clearly has served her well.

Amy was on a hot winning streak -- racking up $1.3 million over 40 episodes! It all came to an end when she went up against Rhone Talsma and lost during Final Jeopardy.

Adele is finally speaking out since she canceled her Las Vegas shows ... saying she canceled because the concerts would've been "half-assed" ... which now has lots of folks wondering if COVID was the real reason.

Adele appeared on the BBC One Series on Friday ... again explaining she tried her best to go on with the show ... and then she dropped the "half-assed" comment.

Remember, Adele said half her crew had COVID and that's the main reason she pulled the plug on her residency last minute. If COVID were the real reason it would be kind of weird to say the performance would have been "half-assed."

As we reported, there were a number of disputes between Adele and the folks behind the scenes ... there were disputes over set pieces, audio and general production issues. Some folks in Caesar's camp say they just could not please her.

That said, Adele spent Thursday night at Heaven, a gay bar in London, where she sang along to "It's Raining Men" and ended up on stage doin' a little pole dance!!!

She also judged the stripping contest!

Micah Beals -- aka, Micah Femia -- was filmed this week harassing a couple guys on a NYC subway train over their mask-wearing ... and things got ugly quick.

Check out the clip ... you see a man we're told is Beals, who has appeared on "Parks and Recreation" and other shows, sitting by himself on a bench before turning his attention to another man down the way -- taunting and insulting the guy over his face covering.

The man seems to do a good job at ignoring Beals, but the dude persists in his barbs -- calling him a sheep, a "p***y" and then finally, a homophobic slur. Beals also appears to be drinking a beer, and once he realizes he's being filmed by a second person across from him ... he zeroes in there too.

The end of the video appears to show Beals ramping up to kick the man recording, but cuts out before we can see what happened.

We've got a call in to cops to see if Beals was reported. No word back yet.

Speaking of NYPD, Beals is the same guy police ID'd for allegedly splashing paint onto a bronze bust of George Floyd in Union Square a few months back ... and he ended up getting charged with criminal mischief. That incident, too, was caught on camera.

A Boston Bruins fan says he was beat up and called homophobic slurs at an Avalanche game in Denver last week ... and cops have confirmed to TMZ Sports they're now investigating it all.

Cadien Shaw told ABC 7 the interaction with Colorado fans at Ball Arena following the Bruins' loss to the Avs on Jan. 26 began innocently ... but then he claims it soon got heated.

Shaw said 3 men approached him ... and after some words, they began to make inappropriate comments about his sexuality.

"It turned to aggressive homophobic slurs," Shaw said.

Soon after, Shaw said the men tackled him, kicked him, and repeatedly called him anti-gay slurs. Shaw said he suffered knee, elbow, and head injuries in the altercation.

Cops tell us they are investigating the alleged incident, saying its Bias Motivated Crime Unit is handling the probe. Police added they're urging any witnesses to contact them.

Figure skater Timothy LeDuc is set to become the first openly nonbinary American athlete to ever compete at the Winter Games ... but they don't want to make it a big deal about themself -- their goal is to make all queer people feel accepted in sports.

31-year-old LeDuc -- who came out as gay at 18 before opening up about being nonbinary (not exclusively identifying as male or female) in 2021 -- said when they take the ice alongside partner Ashley Cain-Gribble in Beijing this month, they hope the storyline isn't, "Timothy is the first nonbinary person to achieve this level of success in sports."

Instead, the 2-time national champ wants to use this opportunity to show all members of the LGBTQ+ community there is a place for them in competitive sport.

"We’ve always been here, we have always been a part of sports. We just haven’t always been able to be open," LeDuc said, according to the AP.

In fact, Adam Rippon became the first openly gay American skater to earn podium while competing at the Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018 ... but former American stars like Brian Boitano and Johnny Weir did not come out until after their competing days.

The Games have seen a rise in LGBTQ+ athletes recently -- Canadian soccer player Quinn was the first openly transgender and nonbinary Olympian to medal in Tokyo ... New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete to compete.

LeDuc says it hasn't been easy identifying their gender ... but luckily, they had a strong support group to help along the way.

"It’s been a really long journey for me, embracing my gender," they added.

Tommy Dorfman's husband apparently has some reasons why they should end their marriage ... because the "13 Reasons Why" star's spouse just filed for divorce.

Peter Zurkuhlen beelined it to a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday and filed divorce docs after more than 5 years of marriage to Tommy ... according to online court records.

Tommy and Peter were first introduced through a mutual friend way back in 2005, and they eventually got engaged in April 2015 before walking down the aisle in November 2016 up in Portland, Maine.

As you know ... Tommy, who played Ryan Shaver on '13 Reasons,' came out as a transgender woman back in July, and also announced she had "redefined" her relationship with Peter, explaining they would become friends rather than romantic partners.

Ex-NBA player Kwame Brown is livid with Dwyane Wade's daughter's fashion tribute to Kobe Bryant ... saying her #8 jersey dress was "disrespectful" to the Lakers legend.

14-year-old Zaya Wade showed love to the Bryants in an Instagram post on Wednesday ... wearing the outfit and captioning the post, "always remembering and honoring Kobe and Gianna."

Seems harmless, right?? Not in Brown's eyes ... as the 2001 #1 overall pick unleashed on Dwyane during his "Bust Life" YouTube show on Thursday ... saying the ex-Miami Heat star doesn't "level up as a man."

"You are letting your woman control your house," Kwame said ... claiming Kobe's wife, Vanessa, and kids would not honor Kobe the same way Zaya did.

Kwame strongly believes Zaya's tribute does a disservice to everything Kobe stands for ... citing his work ethic, masculinity, and faith.

"I'm not saying there's anything against homosexuals, but [Kobe] is a heterosexual man. Why is he being honored by making his jersey into a dress? Wear his goddamn jersey for the day to honor him without the dress part," Brown added.

"Let's please not show our Black brother in this light. This is no offense to nobody else. This man was a heterosexual man with a wife and a family. There's no reason for this to be tied to Kobe Bryant. None whatsoever."

D-Wade has been nothing but supportive of Zaya ... and has spoken out about how the family has grown in understanding over the years.

'Jeopardy!’s AMAZIN' champ, Amy Schneider, has been dethroned after a 40-game winning streak, and she's walking away with a huge chunk of change – over 1 million bucks!

Schneider lost to Chicago librarian Rhone Talsma in the Final Jeopardy! category. Talsma nailed the final "Jeopardy!" clue -- Amy just drew a blank and wrote nothing.

The answer: "The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an "H." It's also one of the 10 most populous."

30 seconds, folks ...

WHAT IS BANGLADESH.

Here's the thing. Amy was leading 27,600 to 17,600 going into Final Jeopardy!, but the librarian was in striking distance -- something Amy wasn't used to.  Afterward, Amy said of Talsma, "I could tell that he was here to play and that he was going to be good."

Don't feel too bad for Amy ... she walked away with $1,382,800!!!

Amy made more than her mark on the long-running show. She holds the second-longest consecutive winning streak, behind Ken Jennings. She's the winningest female contestant of all time. She has the 4th largest regular-season cash winnings of all time. And, she's now eligible for the Tourney of Champs this fall.

Amy is also the first openly transgender woman to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. She talked on 'GMA' about the positive impact she's had on the show for all to see ... a "smart, confident woman doing something super normal."

Amy Schneider is still making gameshow history on "Jeopardy!" ... and she says the best part of her historic run is having the platform to rep the transgender community.

Amy's 38 game winning streak has made her the most successful woman ever on the show ... and that means doing more interviews. Monday on 'GMA,' she opened up about being a "smart, confident woman doing something super normal." We'll take umbrage with her description of her "Jeopardy!" wins as "normal," but you get her point.

Amy said she always knew she could be on the gameshow, but says she wasn't fully prepared for what it meant to be "Jeopardy!" famous.

Following her latest win, she is now neck and neck with Matt Amodio for the game’s second-longest win streak. If she wins on Monday night's episode, she'll be all alone in 2nd place behind only Ken Jennings ... who happens to be hosting during her run.

BTW, Ken has 74 straight wins, so Amy's got a ways to go for the overall crown.

Bill Maher is back!!! And boy, this one's a doozy ... a plan for Democrats to stay in power after the 2024 election ... and it involves Joe Biden, Barack Obama and gay marriage.

This is going to sound absurd on its face ... but there's a hugely important message behind the farce, so play along. Maher says Republicans have changed the rules and even flouted the law with zero shame to get their way ... and Democrats need to do the same thing.

Maher says whether fair or not, Biden doesn't seem to be a winning candidate in '24. He ticks off others like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders but dismisses them too.

So, who then? Bill says the only person who Democrats will swarm to the polls to vote for is Barack Obama.

So, here's his plan ... Obama and Biden divorce their wives (but only in title ... they'd still be together) and then marry each other. Obama goes back into the White House and becomes a de facto Prez.

Now, Bill's still gotta learn the lingo ... he calls Obama "First Lady." Bill, it's "First Gentleman." It's 2022.

Now, don't misunderstand his point. Maher is saying Democrats are losing to Republicans because of rule adherence, something scoffed at by the GOP. Bill wants the Dems to pull a Gus -- Remember the movie, "Gus," where a mule became a kicker for a football team after the team argued there was no specific rule preventing mules from becoming team members?

He's not really saying Obama and Biden should marry ... he's making a do-or-die point.

BTW ... in case you're wondering, Biden couldn't pick Obama as his VP ... the 12th Amendment prohibits a Vice President from being elected if they're not qualified to be President, and Obama can't become Prez again because of the 2-term limit.

Mexico is not messing around -- the country's Football Federation is threatening any fan caught using an anti-gay chant at any of its matches with a 5-year ban.

Federation President Yon de Luisa said Monday during a news conference ... "We can’t tolerate discriminatory acts. We can’t play in empty stadiums. We invite our fans to adopt these measures."

“It is not a measure designed to avoid the re-sale, but without a doubt will have an effect on that because now fans, even though they have a ticket, must have registered to be able to enter.”

The chant -- believed to have emerged in 2003 during a pre-Olympic tournament in Guadalajara -- is when fans of the Mexican national team join in unison to shout the word "p***" ... which roughly translates to "gay prostitute."

For years ... people have argued that the offensive word was never intended to be used to disparage members of the LGBTQ+ community ... and that the word has multiple meanings in Mexico, as well as other Spanish-speaking countries.

That explanation didn't fly with De Luisa who said ... “We understand that, even if it doesn't go with that intent, if other people feel it that way, then it is that way. That's why we want to eradicate it."

FIFA's disciplinary committee has already begun doling out punishment -- back in November, they ordered Mexico’s team to play its next 2 home World Cup qualifiers without fans.

They also fined the federation $110,000 as punishment for homophobic chants during October qualifiers against Honduras and Canada in Mexico City.

Leiomy Maldonado is very happy to see a trans woman rocking the house on "Jeopardy!" ... saying the visibility it offers the community is priceless.

We got the famous dancer/model Monday at LAX and asked about Amy Schneider's hot streak right now on the quiz show -- she's currently the third-winningest contestant ever with 33 consecutive victories and she's the most accomplished female player ever.

Leiomy, who's transgender herself, says she fully supports Amy gunning for the crown ... especially on a show like "Jeopardy!" which has somewhat of an older fanbase.

Check it out ... she says Amy's presence there, in and of itself, is opening doors and probably opening minds too. If anything, Amy's hot streak is likely winning over folks on just merit alone -- trivia fanatics can't deny a sharp mind when they see one, and Amy's smarts speak for themselves.

When we point out trans people are popping up on more mainstream platforms lately, LM points out this group has been around for a long time -- but agrees that getting a spotlight in 2022 shows just how far society has come in addressing the topic.

Of course, not everyone has welcomed Amy with open arms. She's made it clear during her historic run that she's gotten tons of messages from people telling her she's really a man.

During NYE -- right when she was in the thick of her streak -- Amy tweeted ... "I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man. Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind 🙏."

Chris Dickerson -- the first Black Mr. America and first openly gay man to be Mr. Olympia -- died after a reported heart ailment. He was 82 years old.

Dickerson's friend, Bill Neylon, told the Washington Post Chris had died at a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL on December 23 ... after struggling with complications to his heart.

Neylon added Chris had been staying in a rehabilitation center in Florida prior to his death.

Dickerson -- who stood just 5'6" inches tall -- was a pioneer in his industry ... winning the crown of Mr. America in 1970 and Mr. Olympia in 1982.

Some of his most notable wins were victories at Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness Grand Prix competitions in multiple states.

The legendary bodybuilder had a storied career spanning more than three decades ... winning 50 titles during that time.

Chris had suffered a broken hip in 2020 -- he also experienced a heart attack and contracted COVID-19 before his passing, Bill told the outlet.