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State Department issues worldwide alert, warns of violence against LGBTQ community
The State Department on Friday issued a worldwide caution security alert, warning of “the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.”
The threat warning is a result of intelligence citing threats by ISIS against Pride events in parts of Europe, three sources told CBS News.
The State Department bulletin cites “increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events.” The last such global threat warning was issued in October 2023.
Friday’s alert follows one from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security last week that warned of the “potential targeting of LGBTQIA+-related events and venues.”
“Foreign terrorist organizations or supporters may seek to exploit increased gatherings associated with the upcoming June 2024 Pride Month,” it said.
June is PRIDE month with events and celebrations in much of the Western world, including the U.S.
While the State Department bulletin is meant for overseas travel, there is concern about a domestic threat from ISIS, two sources told CBS News.
An unclassified intelligence bulletin obtained by CBS News and dated May 10 says, “Since January 2024, ISIS has successfully conducted external operations in Iran, Russia, and Turkey; called for attacks against the West; and has promised to exact revenge on its enemies, which could include the LGBTQIA+ community.”
In May, the Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team — which includes inputs from FBI, DHS and the National Counterterrorism Center — also issued guidance on violent extremist attacks, plotting and messaging against the LGBTQIA+ community. That document flagged an incident from October 2023 in which a user of a well-known U.S. video game company who publicly swore allegiance to Hamas and ISIS posted videos calling for such attacks. The guidance urged greater engagement between the LGBTQIA+ community and public safety officials.
The last significant ISIS attack was in March in Moscow, Russia.
“We continue to work with our partners to evaluate the threat environment, provide updates to the American public, and protect our homeland. We urge the public to stay vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activity to their local law enforcement,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
Pop icon Elton John said on Sunday that he struggled to see his new musical, “The Devil Wears Prada” after losing his eyesight because of an eye infection.
John gave audience members an update on his condition at the conclusion of the musical’s opening night at London’s Dominion Theatre, which was also a charity gala for the Elton John AIDS foundation.
“I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I’ve lost my eyesight so, it’s hard for me to see it,” he said. “But I love to hear it and it quite sounded good tonight.”
Dave Benett
John, 77, revealed in September that he had been dealing with a “severe eye infection” that left him with “only limited vision in one eye.” He said it was healing, but it “will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”
Last week, he told “Good Morning America” that there’s “hope and encouragement” that he will recover, but admits he can’t even see a lyric at the studio.
“I can’t see anything, I can’t read anything, I can’t watch anything,” John said.
John retired from touring in 2023, but wrote the score for “The Devil Wears Prada,” a stage musical based on the 2006 movie (which itself was based on the 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger) about a young journalist navigating the demands of a fashion magazine and its fearsome editor. In addition to the show, he has a documentary, “Elton John: Never Too Late” about him coming out on Dec. 13.
The pop legend also achieved EGOT status earlier this year after winning an Emmy for outstanding variety special (live) for his show “Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium.”
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Sex workers in Belgium have been given the right to health insurance, maternity leave, sick pay and other employment benefits under a new world-first law.
The new legislation will allow sex workers to enter into employment contracts and benefit from the same rights and legal protections as any other employee, which also includes pension, unemployment benefits and annual vacation.
Consensual prostitution was already decriminalized in the European country but until now it existed under a legal gray area.
“I am a very proud Belgian sex worker right now,” an author and sex worker who goes by the name of Mel Meliciouss online, tells her Instagram followers in a video.
“This is a very important step for us as sex workers. [Employers] cannot force you to do something you don’t want to do,” she adds.
Virginia Mayo / AP
The new law does not apply to self-employed sex workers but will prevent employers with a previous history of crimes, such as trafficking or abuse, from working in the field. By law, they will also have to provide a safe working environment equipped with alarm buttons.
Sex workers will also be able to refuse any client or sexual act without the fear of being fired or punished for doing so.
“We can say it is the first day of a new era,” Quentin Deltour, who campaigned for this law to be passed, told CBS News.
Deltour is part of Espace P, an advocacy group involved in drafting the legislation. For them, this law is a small victory in their fight to protect sex workers from abuse.
“We realized that there was an ‘under-status’ of citizen when you don’t have social rights associated to your professional activity,” Deltour says. His advocacy group considers this law to be an important shift in perspective toward this type of work.
“The previous mentality was that sex work is not compatible with women’s dignity. Now we can stop this moral thinking. Sex work is work for some people,” he told CBS News.
However, the Belgian sex workers union (UTSOPI) says this “historic” step is not a way to normalize this profession. For them, giving sex workers the same rights as other employees does not mean their work is like everyone else’s.
Daan Bauwens, a policy and advocacy officer at UTSOPI, told CBS News many of those who choose to pursue sex work do so out of economic hardship, discrimination, inequality or lack of better opportunities.
“We are not glamorizing anything,” Baweens said.
“In case people are making this choice because they’re going through a hard time, we’re not going to punish them a second time by denying them basic rights that we’re granting to everyone else,” he added.