Latest news with #Stonewall
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
Berlin celebrates Pride parade with techno beats and rainbow flags
BERLIN -- Tens of thousands of people danced to techno beats across Berlin on Saturday to celebrate the German capital's Pride parade, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in Europe. With rainbow flags and bottles of beer, the city partied under overcast skies, an upgrade after days of downpours, to observe and honor Christopher Street Day. 'We need to represent pride is unity, pride is friendship, pride is love and we need to make sure that everybody knows that we were here in peace and in love to make it a better day for everybody,' said Jessica Benitaz, from Miami. The annual parade commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York when a spontaneous street uprising was triggered by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar, on Christopher Street, in Greenwich Village. Berlin's parade took revelers past the iconic Brandenburg Gate and through the Nollendorfplatz neighborhood, home to the city's gay culture as well as a memorial to the queer people who were persecuted and killed by the Nazi regime. The city's first Christopher Street Day was held on June 30, 1979, in West Berlin. Thomas Hoffmann, a member of the CSD Executive Board, thought the 2025 crowd was bigger than in past years. 'We want to stand up for our rights together here,' Hoffmann said. German news agency dpa reported that a right-wing counter-demonstration featured 30 to 50 protesters. Six people, including the protest's organizer, were arrested on their way to the demonstration for alleged weapons and explosives violations as well as for displaying anti-constitutional symbols, dpa reported.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Social media posts by Laurence Fox calling two people paedophiles would not have been taken 'seriously' by many people, Court of Appeal hears
Social media posts by Laurence Fox referring to two men as paedophiles likely would not have been taken 'seriously' by many people, the Court of Appeal has heard. The actor-turned-activist was successfully sued by now-Stonewall CEO Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over a row on Twitter, now known as X. Fox, 47, called Mr Blake and the former RuPaul 's Drag Race contestant, whose real name is Colin Seymour, 'paedophiles' in an exchange about a decision by Sainsbury's to mark Black History Month in October 2020. A High Court judge said Fox should pay both men £90,000 each in damages and slammed the Reclaim Party founder for trying to 'attach blame and discredit' the pair during litigation. Fox called for a boycott of the supermarket and was called 'a racist' by the pair, as well as broadcaster Nicola Thorp, before he responded with the 'paedophile' tweets, which led to the libel claims. The judge dismissed Mr Fox's counter claims against the pair and Ms Thorp over tweets accusing him of racism. The 47-year-old is now challenging the £180,000 High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal in London, attending the first day of the hearing today. Sporting a tattoo of a crucifix on his neck and smoking a cigarette, Fox arrived hand-in-hand with his wife Elizabeth, who he married earlier this year during a private ceremony. The former actor was dressed in a white shirt, jeans and a pair of tan Vivo barefoot hiking boots worth about £296. Patrick Green KC, for Mr Fox, said in written submissions that the judgment which found Mr Fox had libelled the pair should be quashed due to 'errors of approach' by the judge, including over whether Mr Blake and Mr Seymour were caused serious harm. Mr Green said: 'Her conclusions were in any event, plainly wrong, on any fair consideration of the evidence.' The barrister added that Mrs Justice Collins Rice had wrongly decided damages for the two men, who, along with Ms Thorp, are opposing the appeal. Mr Green said that the decision on damages did not consider the actual words Mr Fox used 'and the likelihood that many or the vast majority of readers would have not have taken them seriously, particularly in their context'. The barrister said that in one of her rulings, the judge 'ignores the actual words used, or their all important context'. He also said the judge 'failed to account adequately or at all' for an apology Mr Fox made, or alleged misconduct by Mr Blake and Mr Seymour in 'exaggerating' the harm and distress caused. Mr Fox told the original trial in November 2023 that his use of the term was 'rhetorical', and 'there was no inference at any point that I thought they were a paedophile'. 'I was diminishing the ridiculousness of calling me a racist,' he said. And on Monday, Mr Green said it was clear Mr Fox was being rhetorical. The barrister told appeal judges: 'He's not saying "I am a racist and they are paedophiles' and everyone understood it in that way." Adrienne Page KC, for Mr Blake, Mr Seymour and Ms Thorp, said in written submissions that Mr Fox's appeal was 'lacking in merit'. She continued: 'The "paedophile" tweets did not embody the appellant's opinions about Mr Blake and Mr Seymour. 'They conveyed factual imputations of the most serious defamatory character.' The barrister added there was 'no meaningful retraction or apology' by Mr Fox. She later said: 'Whichever way one looks at it, the judge was fully entitled to reach the factual conclusions that she did on the serious, real-world, reputational impact of the appellant's tweets, for the reasons which she gave. There was nothing wrong with her analysis in fact or law.' Ms Page added that Mr Fox's case at trial had been 'largely devoted to hypothesising, as already noted, a series of different scenarios as to the various ways or settings in which his tweets may have appeared to different readers'. 'After very careful and conscientious evaluation, the judge was, unsurprisingly, not persuaded of this on the facts,' she continued. Ms Page continued that the sums of £90,000 in damages awarded to the pair were 'unexceptionable'. The hearing before Lord Justice Dingemans, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing and Lord Justice Warby is expected to conclude on Tuesday. During the last court battle, Fox had counter-sued Mr Blake and Mr Seymour and broadcaster Nicola Thorp over tweets accusing him of racism. In a previous judgment in January 2024, Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, dismissing Mr Fox's counter-claims. During a ruling in April of that year, the judge said Mr Fox should pay Mr Blake and Mr Seymour £90,000 each in damages. She said: 'By calling Mr Blake and Mr Seymour paedophiles, Mr Fox subjected them to a wholly undeserved public ordeal. It was a gross, groundless and indefensible libel, with distressing and harmful real-world consequences for them.' During the previous court case, Lorna Skinner KC, for Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, had said the pair should receive 'at least six-figure sums' from Mr Fox, calling a suggestion the pair should only receive a 'modest' award 'nonsense'. However, Patrick Green KC, for Fox, said the starting point of damages should be between £10,000 and £20,000, with the total being 'substantially lowered' due to an apology from Mr Fox and the absence of malice. Fox previously described the original judgment as a 'bullies charter' and said he disagreed 'profoundly' with the result. He said in a post on X at the time: 'I don't know what the judge will award these people. But the costs of these proceedings are enormous. So a whopper of a cheque is getting written in the next few days.' Fox added: 'We are seeing the courts used maliciously across the west and that is a very concerning trend. So enjoy the victory guys and I hope it is short lived!' Mrs Justice Collins Rice declined to make an order requiring the 47-year-old to publish a summary of the judge's decision on his X account. During a hearing in March 2024, Mr Green had said there was no need for the Lewis actor to publicise the ruling decision on his social media. He said in written submissions: 'This has been the most high-profile libel action of the year and both the trial and the judgment were massively reported in the media.... There can be few, if any, original publishees in the present case who will be unaware of its outcome.' The barrister added: 'The outcome of this long-running case literally could not be better known than it is already. 'For whatever passing doubts or vague suspicions that may have at some time subsisted in the minds of readers, only a modest financial award in compensation should be due.' Mr Green added: 'The remarks were quickly retracted and apologised for, and at the very least it was clear to the public at large at an early stage that the allegation was baseless.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Berlin celebrates Pride parade with techno beats and rainbow flags
Tens of thousands of people danced to techno beats across Berlin on Saturday to celebrate the city's Pride parade, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in Europe. With rainbow flags and bottles of beer, Germany's capital city partied under overcast skies, an upgrade after days of downpours, to observe and honor Christopher Street Day. The annual Christopher Street Day parade commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York, a spontaneous street uprising triggered by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Berlin's parade took revelers past the iconic Brandenburg Gate and through the Nollendorfplatz neighborhood, home to the city's gay culture as well as a memorial to the queer people who were persecuted and killed in Nazi Germany. The city's first Christopher Street Day occurred on June 30, 1979, in West Berlin.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Berlin celebrates Pride parade with techno beats and rainbow flags
BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of people danced to techno beats across Berlin on Saturday to celebrate the city's Pride parade, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in Europe. With rainbow flags and bottles of beer, Germany's capital city partied under overcast skies, an upgrade after days of downpours, to observe and honor Christopher Street Day. The annual Christopher Street Day parade commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York, a spontaneous street uprising triggered by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Berlin's parade took revelers past the iconic Brandenburg Gate and through the Nollendorfplatz neighborhood, home to the city's gay culture as well as a memorial to the queer people who were persecuted and killed in Nazi Germany. The city's first Christopher Street Day occurred on June 30, 1979, in West Berlin.
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
SNP's £20million spending spree to promote diversity
The SNP 'squandered' almost £20million on ' woke ' ideology while slashing public services, the Tories have claimed. The Nationalist government is accused of years of 'waste' on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) officials and training courses across the public sector. Scotland's crisis-hit NHS was the biggest spender on the personnel and programmes, despite struggling to recover since the Covid pandemic and record waiting lists. Health boards have splashed £8.9million on DEI training since 2019, including £624,000 at NHS Fife, which was taken to a tribunal by nurse Sandie Peggie after she had to share a changing room with a trans doctor. Councils, universities, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Scottish Government departments spent a further £11million between them on DEI. Total annual costs doubled from £2.1million to £4.3million over the period. The SPS's DEI spend of £751,934 included £9,180 to the controversial LGBTQ rights group Stonewall and more than £725,000 on diversity staff wages. An unidentified slice of the spending was for 'awareness/celebration sessions'. Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: 'This is yet another example of the SNP prioritising ideological projects over the issues that people actually care about. It's no wonder Scots are fed up with Left-wing politicians at Holyrood.' Official figures obtained by the Tories show a total spend of £19,987,747 on DEI between 2019-20 and 2024-25. Of that, £2,480,032 was spent by Scotland's councils; £1,012,806 by the justice system; £8,902,193 by the NHS; £5,899,247 by universities; and £1,693,469 by central government. The largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, spent £4.25million between 2019 and 2025, followed by NHS Ayrshire & Arran's £1.3million and NHS Grampian's £1million. NHS Ayrshire & Arran said £780,000 of its spending was on 'translation and interpretation'. But NHS Grampian said it only spent £27,500 on the same issue, while laying out £125,000 on 'professional fees - other'. The highest spending local authority was Aberdeen City Council at £620,640, followed by Angus on £432,000, then Dumfries & Galloway on £348,000 and North Ayrshire on £324,000. Aberdeen said that around half its spending was on 'translation services', but Angus said all of its went on the 'salary for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Senior Practitioner'. Most of North Ayrshire's spending was on an 'Equalities Inclusion Officer'. Almost all of the £117,391 spent on DEI by Scotland's largest council, Glasgow City, was attributed to 'Purchase of services including training'. Edinburgh Napier University, which spent £2.97million, said all its staff were 'required to attend annual mandatory EDI training and additional role specific training'. The next biggest university DEI spender, Dundee, which recently suffered a financial crisis, spent £1.06million, most of it on pay and about £110,000 on 'training'. Robert Gordon University spent £2,535 on 'celebrating Black History Month and Pride'. The Scottish Police Authority, which controls Police Scotland's budget, spent more than £24,000 learning about 'neurodiversity in the workplace'. A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Diversity, equality and inclusion roles exist to ensure fairness, tackle discrimination and help build a Scotland where everyone can thrive. This government is proud to stand up for a more equal society.'
