A Gay Couple Was Warned For Kissing At A Bogotá Mall, So The Community Kissed Back

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A Gay Couple Was Warned For Kissing At A Bogotá Mall, So The Community Kissed Back

A brief kiss between two young men inside one of Bogotá’s most prominent shopping centres has become the centre of a wider debate about discrimination and who is permitted to show affection in public.

Rodri Bastidas and his boyfriend Jhoan Loaiza were eating together in the food court at Centro Comercial Andino on July 19.

After finishing their meal, they decided to record a short TikTok video involving a kiss and a turn toward the camera (infobae).

According to their account, a security guard approached while they were filming and told them that they could not display that kind of affection inside the shopping centre.

The couple said the guard referred to children being nearby and warned that they could be removed if they kissed again.

Rodri and Jhoan said their behaviour consisted of nothing more than an ordinary kiss.

The conversation with the guard was recorded from a distance by another shopper who had witnessed what happened.

She later approached the couple, asked whether they had been subjected to discrimination and shared the recording with them.

The video spread rapidly across social media after Rodri posted it and questioned whether a heterosexual couple would have received the same warning.

Some viewers initially suggested that the encounter had been staged because someone happened to be filming it.

The couple explained that the witness began recording after noticing the security guard approaching them and that she was not involved in their TikTok video.

Centro Comercial Andino opened a review of the incident after the footage attracted widespread criticism.

The mall later concluded that the couple had not engaged in any conduct that justified the security guard’s intervention.

Its management publicly apologized to Rodri and Jhoan and said it had contacted them directly.

The mall also announced that it would review its procedures, examine the conduct of its private security provider and reinforce staff training on inclusion, diversity and respectful treatment.

Securitas Colombia, the company employing the security guard, issued a separate apology.

The company said it had opened an internal investigation and would consider corrective measures once that process had been completed.

Securitas emphasized that dignity, equal treatment and freedom from discrimination were part of its stated institutional policies.

No public finding has yet established the individual guard’s legal responsibility, and the internal investigation remains separate from any criminal process.

Rodri and Jhoan nevertheless decided that an apology should not be the end of the matter.

With assistance from human rights attorney Alejandro Michells, they filed a complaint with Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office alleging discrimination.

The filing asks authorities to investigate what occurred and determine whether anyone committed an offence under Colombian law.

No person has been charged or convicted in connection with the incident.

Bogotá’s Unit Against Discrimination also contacted the couple and offered legal guidance and psychosocial support.

The public response soon moved beyond statements and social media posts.

Activists organized a “besatón,” or kiss-in, at the shopping centre on July 22.

Dozens of LGBTQ+ people, couples, allies and political representatives attended the peaceful demonstration.

Participants kissed, held hands and gathered beneath messages asserting that affection should not be treated differently according to the genders of the people expressing it.

The location carried uncomfortable historical significance because Centro Comercial Andino had faced a similar controversy in 2019.

That earlier incident involved gay couple Esteban Miranda and Nicolás Téllez, who were accused by another visitor of behaving obscenely near children.

Security recordings reportedly contradicted the accusation, while a police citation issued to the couple was later annulled after authorities found problems with the procedure.

Approximately 800 people responded by gathering outside the shopping centre beneath the message that kisses are affection rather than a crime.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has separately ruled that removing a same-sex couple from a shopping centre because of public affection can constitute discrimination.

The court stated that same-sex and different-sex couples must be treated equally when displaying affection under comparable circumstances.

Colombia’s anti-discrimination law also provides criminal penalties for certain acts that arbitrarily restrict people’s rights because of characteristics including sexual orientation.

Whether the Bogotá incident meets that criminal threshold is now a matter for investigators rather than social media.

The mall’s own conclusion is already much clearer.

Rodri and Jhoan had done nothing that warranted the warning they received.

A kiss does not become more sexual, more dangerous or less appropriate simply because it is shared by two men.

The community’s response offered an equally clear answer by returning to the same location and filling it with the affection that had been challenged.

📷 @rodribastidass / @flwer.jhonxx

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Kim Davis Accused Of Moving Assets To Avoid Paying Gay Couple

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Kim Davis Accused Of Moving Assets To Avoid Paying Gay Couple

More than a decade after Kim Davis denied two Kentucky men a marriage licence, their legal battle has moved from the county clerk’s office to property records and inheritance law.

David Ermold and David Moore have filed a new lawsuit accusing the former Rowan County clerk of transferring inherited assets to relatives and a family trust to prevent the couple from collecting money she owes them.

The allegations have not yet been decided by a court, and Davis’s attorneys deny that she acted improperly.

The latest complaint was filed in Rowan Circuit Court by attorneys representing Ermold and Moore (Instinct).

The couple became central figures in the national fight over marriage equality after Davis refused to issue them a licence following the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Davis cited her Apostolic Christian beliefs and stopped her office from issuing marriage licences to any couple rather than approve licences for same-sex couples.

She continued refusing after a federal judge ordered her to comply and ultimately spent several days in jail for contempt of court.

Deputy clerks began issuing licences while Davis was detained, and Ermold and Moore eventually married in October 2015.

Their civil rights lawsuit continued for years after they obtained the licence.

A federal judge ruled in 2022 that Davis had violated their constitutional rights while acting as an elected government official.

A jury awarded the men a combined $100,000 in damages in 2023.

Davis was subsequently ordered to pay more than $260,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses.

Her appeals argued that the First Amendment should protect her from personal liability because issuing a same-sex marriage licence conflicted with her religious beliefs.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument, concluding that constitutional protections for private religious conduct did not allow a public official to deny citizens their rights while performing government duties.

The United States Supreme Court declined to hear Davis’s appeal in November 2025, leaving the lower court decisions and the judgment against her intact.

The current dispute concerns whether Davis later placed assets outside the couple’s reach.

The newly filed complaint alleges that Davis inherited a 50% interest in her mother’s estate in early 2025.

The estate was reportedly valued at approximately $735,230.

Attorneys for Ermold and Moore say county records show that several properties were later transferred to relatives and a family trust.

The assets reportedly included a family home, a farm covering approximately 50 acres and another residence.

The lawsuit says the transfers were made for family affection and without monetary consideration.

The plaintiffs argue that this effectively removed Davis’s ownership while she remained responsible for an unpaid legal judgment.

Their attorneys are asking the court to reverse the transfers under Kentucky’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act.

That law permits judges to undo certain transactions if property was moved to hinder, delay or defraud creditors.

It can also apply when assets are transferred without reasonably equivalent value while a debt remains outstanding.

The couple’s legal team says Davis now owes a total of $565,285.91 after additional costs and interest.

Attorney Michael Gartland told reporters that his clients had received only “a penny” from Davis so far.

He described the property records as unusually strong evidence supporting their claim.

Another attorney for the couple, Joseph Buckles, said discovering the transactions required examining probate files and county records.

Davis’s attorneys strongly dispute the accusation that she attempted to conceal property.

Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, who represents Davis, said she answered deposition questions truthfully because she was asked what property she currently owned rather than what she had previously inherited.

He also said Davis transferred the assets to carry out her late mother’s wishes.

The plaintiffs argue that the probate records do not contain a formal will directing those transfers.

A judge must now decide whether the property changes were ordinary family estate planning or legally voidable transfers designed to frustrate creditors.

The new lawsuit does not reopen the question of whether Davis violated the couple’s constitutional rights.

That issue has already been decided repeatedly in federal court.

It also does not mean the couple has automatically gained ownership of the transferred properties.

They are asking a state court to make those assets available as they attempt to enforce the existing judgment.

The dispute illustrates how a celebrated civil rights victory can still require years of additional litigation before the people who won receive meaningful compensation.

Ermold and Moore obtained their marriage licence in 2015 and later proved that their rights had been violated.

They then defended that judgment through multiple appeals, including Davis’s unsuccessful attempt to bring the case before the Supreme Court and challenge marriage equality itself.

More than ten years after they first walked into the Rowan County clerk’s office, the couple is still asking the courts to ensure that its decisions carry consequences.

The licence was eventually issued, the constitutional violation was established and the damages were awarded, but the final payment remains another legal battle entirely.

📷 David Ermold

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Michael Johnston Is In Talks To Join Brendan Fraser And Rachel Weisz In The Mummy

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Michael Johnston Is In Talks To Join Brendan Fraser And Rachel Weisz In The Mummy

Michael Johnston may be preparing to exchange one modern horror phenomenon for ancient tombs, supernatural curses and a major Hollywood adventure franchise.

The openly gay actor is reportedly in early negotiations for a significant role in Universal Pictures’ next instalment of The Mummy.

Johnston has not officially joined the cast, and Universal has declined to comment on the reported negotiations.

No information has been revealed about the character he could play or how that character would connect to the returning heroes (Deadline).

Should an agreement be reached, Johnston would appear alongside Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah.

Fraser and Weisz are officially returning as adventurer Rick O’Connell and Egyptologist Evelyn O’Connell.

Hannah will once again play Evelyn’s charming and frequently unreliable brother Jonathan Carnahan.

The actors first appeared together in the enormously popular 1999 film The Mummy.

Fraser, Weisz and Hannah returned for The Mummy Returns in 2001.

Fraser and Hannah later appeared in the 2008 sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, while Maria Bello replaced Weisz as Evelyn.

The forthcoming film remains officially untitled, although it is widely being referred to as The Mummy 4.

Plot details are being kept secret, and Johnston’s potential involvement offers few clues about the direction of the story.

The film will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the filmmaking duo known collectively as Radio Silence.

Their previous films include Ready or Not, Scream, Scream VI and Abigail.

David Coggeshall wrote the screenplay, with longtime franchise producer Sean Daniel among the producers returning for the new chapter.

The film is currently scheduled to arrive in cinemas on October 15, 2027.

For Johnston, securing the role would continue a remarkable career breakthrough created by the success of Obsession.

The Curry Barker horror film stars Johnston as Bear, a lonely music-store employee whose wish to make his friend Nikki love him produces increasingly horrifying consequences.

The role allowed Johnston to explore entitlement, loneliness and the dangerous idea that romantic affection can be forced or deserved.

His performance helped transform the modestly produced film into one of 2026’s most unexpected theatrical successes.

Although Obsession introduced Johnston to a much wider audience, he had already been working professionally for nearly 15 years.

Many queer viewers first encountered him as Corey Bryant in MTV’s Teen Wolf.

Corey became romantically involved with Mason Hewitt, played by Khylin Rhambo, during the supernatural drama’s later seasons.

Johnston has since explained that he was not yet comfortable with his own sexuality while playing the character.

He later received thousands of messages from viewers who said the storyline helped them feel more confident or come out to their families.

Johnston has also built an extensive voice-acting career across animation, anime, films and video games.

Following the success of Obsession, he said he had reached a point where he could make more deliberate choices about the stories he wanted to tell.

One of those ambitions is to play a meaningful and intentional queer character rather than treating sexuality as the character’s entire identity.

He even suggested that he might eventually write such a project himself if the right opportunity did not appear.

There is currently no indication that Johnston’s possible role in The Mummy would be LGBTQ+.

Presenting the unknown character as queer would therefore go considerably beyond anything reported about the negotiations.

What the potential casting would represent is a major opportunity for an openly gay actor whose sudden success followed years of largely supporting and voice roles.

It would also place Johnston beside Fraser and Weisz in a franchise that remains unusually beloved more than a quarter of a century after its first adventure.

The deal may not be finished, the character remains secret and the mummy is still firmly wrapped.

For now, however, Michael Johnston appears tantalisingly close to his biggest role yet.

📷 @themichaeljohnston

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The German Gay Police Romance Finding A New Audience Online

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The German Gay Police Romance Finding A New Audience Online

A German crime series that ended more than a year ago is suddenly attracting new attention from queer viewers around the world.

Blutige Anfänger, which roughly translates as Bloody Beginners, premiered on German broadcaster ZDF in January 2020.

The series follows students at a police academy in Halle an der Saale during the practical stage of their training (Instinct).

Each episode moves between lessons at the academy, real homicide investigations and the private complications of the young trainees and their instructors.

ZDF describes the show as a fresh look at police work in which inexperienced students inevitably make mistakes while learning how to become criminal investigators.

The programme ran for six seasons before its final episodes aired in December 2024.

Although the larger ensemble changed over the years, season four introduced the characters now driving much of the show’s international rediscovery.

Phillip Schneider and Bruno Pérez arrive as fellow police trainees whose very different personalities create immediate tension.

Phillip, played by Eric Cordes, is disciplined, thoughtful and deeply attached to rules and structure.

Bruno, played by Martín Peñaloza Cecconi, is charismatic, impulsive and far more comfortable acting on his emotions.

The contrast gives the relationship its familiar romantic engine: one man carefully protects his feelings while the other keeps pushing toward honesty.

Their connection develops gradually rather than becoming an instant romance.

They work together, clash, become emotionally vulnerable and slowly move from attraction into a relationship.

There are guarded conversations, meaningful looks, jealousy and the kind of delayed emotional payoff that makes slow-burn television particularly satisfying.

There are also considerably more kissing scenes than viewers might expect from an early-evening German police procedural.

The appeal is not simply that the series includes a gay couple, but that Phillip and Bruno remain fully involved in the main drama around them.

They investigate murders, train alongside the other students and deal with professional pressure while their relationship develops within the same narrative space.

The romance is not presented as a detached educational storyline or a temporary special episode.

They are allowed to be competent, flawed, romantic, frustrating and occasionally very bad at communicating.

That ordinary complexity is still notable in a genre where LGBTQ+ characters have often appeared as victims, suspects or brief supporting figures rather than central romantic leads.

The relationship also continues across more than one season, giving the characters time to move beyond initial attraction.

Phillip’s reluctance to acknowledge the relationship publicly becomes one source of conflict, while Bruno increasingly wants something more open and secure.

The story therefore explores not only falling in love, but the harder question of whether two people can want the same relationship in the same way.

Instinct Magazine recently highlighted the series as an overlooked queer television discovery, introducing Phillip and Bruno to readers who may never have encountered the German production during its original run.

Fan edits on YouTube, TikTok and other platforms have also helped their storyline travel beyond the programme’s traditional audience.

This kind of rediscovery has become increasingly common as short clips allow queer viewers to find characters hidden inside programmes that were never widely distributed internationally.

A few seconds of tension or one well-edited kiss can send viewers searching for dozens of subtitled episodes.

Watching Blutige Anfänger outside Germany may still require some patience because availability varies by country.

ZDF currently hosts episodes from the series through its streaming service, although geographic access and subtitle options may differ.

The programme’s conclusion also means that viewers can approach Phillip and Bruno’s story as a completed television arc rather than waiting indefinitely for another season.

The murders may provide the weekly structure, but for many new viewers, the real investigation is how quickly Phillip and Bruno will finally admit what is obvious to everyone else.

📷 ZDF

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One Killed And At Least 16 Injured In Deadly Berlin Pride Attack

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One Killed And At Least 16 Injured In Deadly Berlin Pride Attack

Berlin’s celebration of queer freedom ended in horror on Saturday night when a white van drove into people gathered near the closing events of Christopher Street Day.

One person was killed and at least 16 others were injured in the incident near Tiergarten park and the Brandenburg Gate.

Eight people suffered serious injuries, and three remained in life-threatening condition early Sunday morning (The Guardian).

The vehicle entered Tiergarten at around 10 p.m. before striking people on a path and crashing into a tree.

Police found the van empty and immediately began searching for the person or people who had left it.

German authorities have since issued a public wanted notice for a 21-year-old suspect who may be armed and dangerous.

Police say the man is already known to them as someone associated with Berlin’s Islamist scene.

However, investigators have stressed that they have not yet established his exact role, his motive or the complete sequence of events.

Authorities have therefore not definitively confirmed a terrorist motive at this early stage of the investigation.

Police also said that one or more people apparently left the vehicle following the collision.

Several victims may also have suffered stab wounds, although that part of the incident remains under investigation.

A major search involving officers from Berlin and other German states continued through the night.

Police warned members of the public not to approach the wanted suspect and asked witnesses to provide photographs, recordings and other information.

The attack took place as hundreds of thousands of people were completing a day of LGBTQ+ visibility, celebration and political protest across the German capital.

Berlin Pride is known locally as Christopher Street Day, or CSD, in recognition of the New York street where the Stonewall uprising began in 1969.

The 2026 parade travelled through the city before concluding with performances, speeches and celebrations near the Brandenburg Gate.

Organizers had chosen “Haltung ist hot”, translated as “Taking a Stand Is Hot,” as this year’s motto.

The slogan was intended as a call to defend democratic values, an open society and equal rights for queer people amid growing hostility.

The remaining concert and festivities were cancelled as police, ambulances and emergency workers filled the area.

Images from the scene showed frightened attendees embracing near police barriers while others were treated by emergency personnel.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner described the incident as an attack on the city’s free and cosmopolitan society.

He said a peaceful and colourful Pride gathering had been attacked in the most brutal manner and expressed sympathy for the victims and their loved ones.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also condemned what he called a horrific act and promised that those responsible would be identified and punished.

The first Christopher Street Day in West Berlin was held in 1979 with approximately 450 demonstrators.

It has since developed into one of Europe’s largest and most visible LGBTQ+ gatherings, regularly drawing hundreds of thousands of people.

That history makes Saturday night’s violence particularly painful for a community that has spent decades turning Berlin’s streets into a symbol of visibility and freedom.

The attack occurred not simply near a concert or public gathering, but beside an event built around the belief that queer people should be able to live openly without fear.

The suspect identified by police has not been arrested, charged or convicted in connection with the incident.

Investigators are still determining whether he drove the vehicle, acted with others or was responsible for the reported stabbings.

Early reports have also differed slightly over whether 16 or 17 people were injured, so the number may change as authorities release further information.

What is already confirmed is devastating enough: one person is dead, many others are injured and Berlin’s queer community is grieving after a day that should have ended in celebration.

📷 AI

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