LGBT

A Pride event in Tennessee is facing the reality of heightened threats and tension toward the LGBTQ community this year, beefing up security after warnings from the Aryan Nations.

Memphis is hosting the Mid-South Pride Festival Saturday, but Vanessa Rodley, Festival Director and President of the org, tells TMZ ... threats have been thrown at the group ahead of the big bash -- including claims that the Aryan Nations will be showing up to protest.

For those unaware, Aryan Nations is a large group of neo-Nazis, often composed of white skinheads that tout racist and homophobic beliefs. She says this year has been the worst in terms of threats ... but thinks it helps the group be more prepared in terms of security.

Vanessa adds her team is working with local authorities, FBI and Homeland Security to make sure the whole thing is safe -- adding they've been meeting with cops for the past few months in preparation.

BTW, 2 featured guests slated for Saturday's event are "RuPaul's Drag Race" stars Kameron Michaels and Lady Camden, joining a group of 50 drag performers, the most they've ever had.

In terms of Tennessee laws against drag, we're told they've figured out how to work around the grey areas ... stuff like performers arriving in costume due to laws mentioning "the act of unveiling costumes" and buckets for tips instead of directly accepting cash.

Claire Elisan, founder and Executive Director of the Florida-based LGBTQ+ nonprofit Project No Labels, tells us her team will also be enhancing security for all of its events this month.

The current leaders of U.S. military forces apparently have no tolerance for drag shows on military bases, but that's a huge departure from days past, because drag shows were embraced by the brass during World War II.

In 1942, the military joined forces with the USO and the American Red Cross to entertain our troops -- both at home and abroad -- with drag shows. Not only that, the soldiers were the ones in drag.

The Army Special Services published a handbook on how to produce these shows. The handbook referred to the productions as "Girly Shows," and even gave tips on how to make the GIs look good for the highly choreographed "Pony Ballet." The Pony Ballet was described as GIs wearing tutus along with army boots.

And get this ... General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, said at the time, "The USO has given an impressive demonstration of the way people in our country of different creeds, races and economic status can work together when the nation has dedicated itself to an all-out, integrated effort."

This is in stunning contrast to the current landscape ... Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said there's no place for tax-supported drag shows on military bases. A drag show scheduled this month at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada -- to celebrate Pride Month -- was canceled, despite the fact there were 2 previous shows in recent years.

The drag queen who was supposed to headline that show -- "RuPaul's Drag Race" star Coco Montrese -- told us on "TMZ Live" Thursday Secretary Austin was wrong -- these shows were privately funded.

Paul Stanley is firmly on board with Pride celebrations -- which might shock critics of his comments about gender identity and kids -- but he says all folks should be free to embrace who they are ... with one caveat.

We caught up with the KISS frontman in L.A.'s Beverly Glen neighborhood, and when we asked him if had any message for the transgender community on the first day of Pride month ... he offered his view of what everyone should take from Pride.

Paul says, "Everybody has a right to be who they are, and life's too short to be anyone else." As for being proud of who you are, he says absolutely, but adds that has nothing to do with your gender or sexual preference ... it's about being a "good person."

You'll recall, PS came under fire in April after tweeting his thoughts on gender reassignment for children -- namely, that there's a difference between teaching kids acceptance of all people, and encouraging them to question "their sexual identification."

Some folks backed him up, but for the most part, he got a ton of flak from people who took his tweet as being anti-LGBTQ ... and, fairly or not, found it hypocritical because members of KISS were makeup-wearing glam rockers.

Paul told us he didn't feel the need to clarify that statement any further than he already has.

The scheduled headliner for a drag show on a U.S. Air Force base is ripping President Biden's administration for scrapping this year's event, saying it doesn't line up with the White House's supposed support for the LGBTQ+ community.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" star Coco Montrese joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to give us her reaction to the Pentagon's decision to nix tonight's scheduled drag show at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

There had been 2 previous drag shows on the base, and in fact, Coco performed at the first one in 2021.

Coco says all the drag queens performed to a packed house, and they were generally well received -- which is why she's disappointed military brass switched course, and scrapped Thursday's show at the last minute.

She told us the decision is at odds with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's public statements of support for the military's LGBTQ+ members and Pride Month. Coco suggests the Prez can make amends ... by hosting a drag show right there at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

It's interesting ... the Pentagon says the Department of Defense will not host drag events at bases because "these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of DOD resources."

However, Coco says the scrapped show at Nellis was privately funded, so that would have been a moot point.

The Pentagon has reportedly nixed a drag show scheduled for the beginning of Pride Month -- after it had already been approved by the chain of command.

According to CNN, the performance -- set for Thursday -- was canceled at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and it was supposed to highlight the significance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the military.

This would have been the third drag event at Nellis, but Pentagon officials put the kibosh on it Wednesday, CNN said. It wasn't clear if the show would be moved to another venue.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been super supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, commending them for their service and publicly supporting Pride Month in the military. But Austin has made it clear he doesn't want drag shows on U.S. military bases because the Defense Department should not have to pay for the expense.

A Pentagon rep explained, "As Secretary Austin has said, the DOD will not host drag events at U.S. military installations or facilities. Hosting these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of DOD resources. Our Service members are diverse and are allowed to have personal outlets."

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass apologized on Tuesday afternoon ... saying a post he made on his social media page earlier this week was "hurtful to the Pride community."

On Monday, Bass reshared a video to his Instagram Story from the account "dudewithgoodnews" ... which appeared to feature anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

The clip urged people to boycott "Target, Bud Light, and any other corporation that's pushing the things they're pushing" -- in light of their recent LGBTQ promotions.

Bass did not add any further commentary on the vid when sharing it ... though he was dragged by many MLB fans for re-posting it nonetheless.

But, during a short meeting with reporters at Rogers Centre ahead of Tuesday night's Toronto vs. Milwaukee game ... he said he was sorry for it.

"I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine," said Bass, who has since deleted the Instagram post. "I am truly sorry for that."

"I just spoke with my teammates and shared with them my actions yesterday. I apologized to them, and as of right now I am using the Blue Jays' resources to better educate myself to make better decisions moving forward."

He continued, "The ballpark is for everybody. We include all fans at the ballpark. We want to welcome everybody. That's all I have to say."

The Blue Jays -- who are set to host a Pride night on June 9 -- said in a statement of their own that "individual player sentiments are not representative of the club's beliefs."

"The Blue Jays bring millions of fans together across Canada," the team added, "and are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming experience for all."

Uncle Sam isn't liking Uganda's new harsh anti-gay law -- which criminalizes "aggravated homosexuality" -- and we might just do something about it as a nation to condemn it.

President Biden's Sec. of State, Anthony Blinken, spoke out against the African nation's Anti-Homosexuality Act, which just got signed into law, and he says the U.S. will now consider visa restrictions against Ugandan officials and others for what he calls a human rights abuse.

Blinken says he's instructed the State Dept. to update travel guidance as well for Americans who might want to travel to Uganda for business or pleasure -- so, perhaps restricting travel.

As for POTUS ... he's also slamming the law, and says he might even impose sanctions against Uganda over this -- adding he would review the ramifications of the law "on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda."

As for what is actually illegal now ... well, it's murky. Uganda says one can still identify as gay or as part of the LGBT community -- but that any promotion of homosexuality or any overt public acts of homosexuality, as it's vaguely described, is punishable by prison.

If you're thinking our politicians here would be divided on this, you'd be wrong -- at least as it pertains to Sen. Ted Cruz, anyway ... who publicly called out Uganda for overstepping.

He wrote, "This Uganda law is horrific & wrong. Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” is grotesque & an abomination.  ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse."

The husband of a recent beauty pageant contestant was in an all-out rage after his wife was named the runner-up ... rushing the stage and chucking the winner's crown on the floor!!!

Here's the deal -- Emannuelly Belini, representing Várzea Grande, was being crowned at Brazil's Miss Gay Mato Grosso 2023 on Saturday when the husband of 2nd place-winner Nathally Becker rushed on stage with some obvious qualms.

Check out the insane clip ... the husband grabs the crown just as it's being placed on Belini's head and slams it on the floor! As folks are in pure shock, he throws it down again before trying to walk off with his wife -- ultimately getting stopped by security.

The event put out a statement after the sore loser incident -- reiterating that Belini was indeed deemed the winner of this year's event, while also condemning the actions of Becker's hubby ... claiming the org's camp will be taking appropriate legal action after the ordeal.

The makeup artist who gave Ursula her look in "The Little Mermaid" says the blowback he's gotten from members of the LGBTQ community is ridiculous ... that only someone from that community should have been tapped for the job.

Peter King, a seasoned makeup artist, has been under fire from some LGBTQ members, who groused Melissa McCarthy's sea witch character -- inspired by drag queen Divine -- should not have been done up at the hands of anyone outside the community.

King went on the offensive, saying, "I find that very offensive. Why can't I do as good a job as a queer makeup artist?"

Mr. King is seasoned at his craft, doing makeup for "The Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars: Episode VIII -- The Last Jedi, and "Spider-Man." He said, "I personally don't get it. Yes, I'm very old now, so that's fine, I get that too, but you know, a makeup artist or makeup designer could design makeup, they don't have to have an attachment to the nature of what they're doing."

Meanwhile, the #1 film this weekend -- expected to top $120M -- had a famous guest in one of the theaters ... Halle Bailey, who posted video of herself in disguise taking in the action.

And, speaking of action, a fight broke out at one theater ... unsure what it was about, but fists were flying -- adult fists -- which is crazy, right?

A sign of the times.

Reports of bomb threats made to several Target stores over three different states have now been classified as a hoax -- and it seems someone was trying to plant a false flag.

Target locations in Utah, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- spanning the greater Cleveland, Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh areas -- reportedly received correspondence Friday threatening to blow up several sites ... and all the emails sent referenced the Pride Month display controversy.

At first, it seemed the threats were coming from folks boycotting Target for supporting Pride Month -- but, Cleveland 19 News published a screenshot of the email in question, and it actually appeared to come from an LGBTQ+ ally angry about Target's decision to back down.

The note -- which was sent by someone named Alsan Akhmedov -- reads in part, "Target is full of cowards who turned their back on the LGBT community and decided to cater to the homophobic right wing redneck bigots who protested and vandalized their store."

It continues, "We won't stand idly by as the far right continues to hunt us down. We are sending you a message, we placed a bomb in the following targets." Four Targets in OH and one in PA were referenced ... the Utah stores were not mentioned in this specific message.

All of those stores -- plus some in Utah, which also received bomb threats -- were evacuated ... but after preliminary investigations, cops are now saying this whole thing is fake.

Some law enforcement agencies have reportedly said the email looks to have originated from overseas, and that there was no credible threat upon inspection at the Targets mentioned. Cops in Utah -- where the stores also appear to have been sent a similar email -- said the same thing ... calling the bomb threats "bogus." In other words, disinformation.

One of the brands who created some of Target's Pride collection says their items have been yanked from brick-and-mortar stores ... and they're blaming "threats from domestic terrorists."

The brand, Ash+Chess, says the majority of their products have been removed from Target stores following backlash.

The New York-based brand, which says it is "queer + trans owned," says it's saddened by what's going down at some Target stores ... where folks are destroying Pride displays.

Ash+Chess says ... "Emotionally, we do not currently have the bandwidth to comment further on this. We appreciate your support and love. Queer and trans people exist in the past, present, and future, and we are stronger together. We love you all."

While Target apparently yanked the brand's products from storefronts, the collection is still available online as of this post.

Some of the Pride items from Ash+Chess include beanies, cards, shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, hoodies, posters and calendars ... and they mostly celebrate being queer and trans.

As you know, there's a boycott targeting the nationwide chain over its decision to feature LGBTQ apparel and other items, a boycott that's cost Target $9 billion and counting.

Here's how insane the culture wars have gotten ... people are now vandalizing Target stores and destroying Pride signs, and that's not all.

A guy named Ethan Schmidt, a radically right-wing internet personality, paid a visit to a Target store and ripped down a "#TakePride" sign around an LGBTQ clothes rack.

His anger and hatred are palpable in the video.

Target has been just that -- a target for featuring LGBTQ apparel and other items. In addition to the boycott which has already cost the chain $9 billion, employees have been harassed. That led to a decision to move some of the LGBTQ items, which infuriated people from the community. It's the proverbial rock-and-a-hard place.

There have been other, more subtle gestures, like someone who left a case of Bud Light next to an LGBTQ display.

Now there are folks attacking the store for not having a display honoring the military on Memorial Day. One of the protesters proclaimed, "You're going to go down like Budweiser."

Former "American Idol" winner Samantha "Just Sam" Diaz is living a bad case of deja vu ... singing in New York City subways for money.

Just three years removed from winning "Idol" in 2020, the non-binary singer says they're back to showing off their pipes in subway stations ... making a living off the cash and coins folks leave in their donation box.

Just Sam is documenting the full circle moment on social media ... posting clips on Instagram showing themself covering different songs in NYC subway stations.

In a since-deleted caption, Sam says they were embarrassed to be reverting back to subway singing after winning the famous reality singing competition.

According to The Sun, Sam's deleted caption said, "Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money. I didn't want people to know that it wasn't optional. I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old."

Sam won "Idol" at the height of the pandemic, during a 2020 season that went remote midseason, and contestants performed while isolated. Sam beat out runner-up Arthur Gunn to win the show's 18th season.

A transgender girl ended up missing her own high school graduation after the school told her to wear a suit like the guys getting their diplomas, and a judge refused to stop the school from forcing her to do so.

According to the ACLU of Mississippi, 17-year-old "L.B." was ordered by Harrison Central High School earlier this month to follow the boys' dress code for Saturday's graduation ceremony -- which included wearing "pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy.”

L.B. had already purchased a dress and heels to wear under her cap and gown ... and the ACLU ended up filing a lawsuit against the district on behalf of L.B. and her family.

However, a U.S. district judge reportedly denied the emergency plea, upholding the school's stance. Multiple reports say she ended up missing the ceremony as a result.

"Selling Sunset" star Chrishell Stause and G Flip walked down the aisle in Las Vegas and appeared to tie the knot, but they're NOT married ... at least in the eyes of the law.

It's been more than a week since Chrishell and the 29-year-old Australian musician strongly hinted at their marital status with a social media post showing what appeared to be a Vegas wedding ... but we did some digging and there's still no marriage records for the couple in Clark County, Nevada.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... despite rampant online speculation, Chrishell and G Flip are NOT legally married.

However, our sources say Chrishell and G Flip plan to have an official wedding ceremony somewhere down the line.

Chrishell and G, who is non-binary, have been together for over a year ... first revealing their romance last May during the "Selling Sunset" reunion special.

Caitlyn Jenner is backing the University of Wyoming sorority sisters who claim they're being menaced by a transgender member in their house.

Caitlyn's sounding off about the Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters suing their sorority for letting 21-year-old Artemis Langford join their chapter last year. In the suit, the women say they now "live in constant fear in our home" ... because they allege 6'2, 260 lbs. Artemis gets physically aroused around them.

Caitlyn made her views clear, tweeting, "The person is not a true trans. They are a sexually deviant perv who hangs around a female sorority watching young women undress with a visible erection!"

She goes on to refer to Artemis as a male, calling them a "mentally disturbed person."

Caitlyn also puts a good chunk of the blame on the sorority for letting Artemis into the sisterhood, calling on others to either drop out of their chapters or refuse to join in solidarity.

Jenner shared her brash thoughts on Fox News, bluntly saying to Artemis ... "You're not a woman, and you do not belong in women's spaces."