Updated on Sunday, May 31
‘The Latest News’ is a weekly thread where we update our readers on events that affect our communities.
Watch SpaceX, The First Commercial Spacecraft in History, Dock
On Saturday afternoon, the first commercial spacecraft in history, which was funded by Elon Musk, took off successfully. The spacecraft is expected to dock at a space station orbiting earth at 10:29am EST on Sunday morning.
Derek Chauvin, cop who killed George Floyd, was charged with murder and manslaughter
On Friday, Derek Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter for killing George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. He is currently being held at a county jail on $500,000 bail. He was also fired from his job as a police officer shortly after the incident.
BREAKING UPDATE: Derek Chauvin has now been charged with third degree murder and manslaughter.pic.twitter.com/NRO2gVIMCe
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) May 29, 2020
Throughout the Friday evening, protests across the country continued. Many have called for all four police officers involved to be arrested and charged
At Least 72 Arrested In NYC George Floyd Protest
On Thursday night, dozens gathered in New York City’s Union Square to protest the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was pinned down and suffocated by police in Minneapolis on Monday. The protestors marched from Union Square to City Hall and the World Trade Center as interactions between them and the NYPD got increasingly tense.
Happening in Union Square, NYC right Now!
No Justice, No Peace! Fuck the Racist Police! #JusticeForFloyd
— #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd (@PepperOceanna) May 28, 2020
HE BROKE HIS STICK ON A PERSON
ARE YOU SEEING THIS?!
to the cops at union square: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!pic.twitter.com/QGmlWngLn2— venus ✺ (@merrikate_) May 28, 2020
Union square, New York City.#BlackLivesMatter#JusticeForFloyd pic.twitter.com/rd3MZgp8JT
— Jackson (@Jacksonlzz) May 28, 2020
Three NYPD officers were injured during the protest, including one who had a trash can thrown at him and got a concussion.
Larry Kramer, Legendary AIDS Activist, Died at 84
On Wednesday morning, Larry Kramer died of pneumonia. The writer and activist is best known for his successful Broadway play-turned-hit-movie, “The Normal Heart”, and for co-founding the AIDS activist group Act Up. Kramer was infamous for being a radical advocate for HIV/AIDS research at a time when much of the political and media establishment thought of it as a “gay disease”, a stigmatized label that prevented more research. In 1988, Kramer was diagnosed with HIV himself and his health quickly deteriorated, but was eventually saved by new HIV medication.
Although they initially had a contentious relationship, Kramer later became close friends with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who after Kramer’s death told the New York Times they “loved each other.”
On Wednesday, Director Ryan Murphy called Kramer the “most important gay activist of all time” and revealed that he and Kramer had planned to work together on a Broadway production, according to Deadline.
“Being gay is a natural normal beautiful variation on being human. Period. End of subject,” Kramer said during the height of the AIDS pandemic in the U.S. “Therefore, any argument which says differently is an immoral supremacist one. Call it out as such. … Be outraged, offended, angry and intolerant of any discussion or any one who describes you as unequal, undeserving or unnatural for being just as you are.”
Costa Rica just legalized Same-Sex Marriage
On Tuesday, Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2018, that country’s Constitutional Court gave the legislature one and a half years to enact the legislation that would lift the ban on gay marriage.
In recent months, some members of that country’s government tried to postpone the passage of marriage equality due to Covid-19. Regardless, the country’s government stuck to its original commitment to legalize gay marriage by 2020. Carlos Quesada, Costa Rica’s president, celebrated the decision on his Twitter.
Costa Rica oficialmente reconoce el matrimonio igualitario. Hoy celebramos la libertad, la igualdad y las instituciones democráticas. Que sean la empatía y el amor la brújula que nos permita salir adelante y construir un país donde quepamos todas las personas ️
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) May 26, 2020
Translation: “Costa Rica officially recognizes marriage equality. Today we celebrate liberty, equality and democratic institutions. Empathy and love should be the compass that guides us forward and build a country where everyone is welcome.”
A white woman called the police on a Black man in Central Park
On Monday, a video went viral that showed a white woman calling the cops on a Black man, Christian Cooper, who was birdwatching in the Ramble, a grassy area in Central Park. The woman, Amy Cooper (no relation), was walking her dog off-leash in an area known to be a birdwatching spot where dogs are required to be on-leash.
Christian told Amy to get her unleashed dog, which was digging through some plants and scaring away birds. After she refused to get her dog, Christian said he offered the dog treats to distract him and Amy became agitated and called the cops.
“I’m going to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life,” she told Christian as she called the cops while Christian filmed.
Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020
The NYPD later arrived but neither Christian nor Amy were still there.
Since then, Amy has publicly apologized and said she “overreacted.” Her dog is currently at Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, where she adopted it years ago, because the video raised some concerns about her treatment of it after she appeared to be choking it. She was also suspended from her job at an investment firm shortly after.
A major Supreme Court will soon decide if people can be fired for being gay
In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court will decide the outcome of a lawsuit that could make it illegal to fire people for their sexual orientation, even if it’s on religious grounds. The lawsuit, Bostock v. Clayton County, was initially brought by Gerald Bostock in his state of Georgia.
Bostock was employed by Clayton County, which is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, since 2003. He was fired in 2013 after he joined a gay softball league on grounds of “conduct unbecoming a county employee.” When he brought his case to court, Clayton county dismissed the claim, saying that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not protect people based on sexual orientation.
The outcome of this case could determine if the Civil Rights Act will be protect LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination nationwide.
