QUICKIES 07/15/2013

Malaysian politician appoints the country’s first transgender political secretary, a transwoman named Hezreen Shaik Daud. Daud, a former NGO project officer, speaks English, Malaysian, Mandarin and Hokkein.

George Zimmerman has been found not guilty of all charges. Thousands across the country immediately took to the streets to protest the verdict, blocking the 10 freeway in Los Angeles and taking over Times Square.

With uncanny timing, Fruitvale Station, the true story of the death of Oscar Grant, a 22 year-old Bay Area native who was gunned down by BART police on New Years Day after being the victim of an assault. He was handcuffed and face-down on the concrete platform. The officer who shot him was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter after he claimed that he mistook his gun for his taser. He swore that he only meant to electrocute the unarmed, incapacitated assault victim. He had a daughter.

Go see it. Seriously. It’s phenomenal.

A former Indiana high school student, Dynasty Young, has won a $65,000 settlement for the relentless harassment he experienced for being gay, and for the school administration’s failure to prevent it. They chose to expel Young for using a noise-emitting “safety flashlight” to successfully halt an attack, and blamed him for the harassment because he was ‘too flamboyant.’