1. Sam Woodward, the suspect in the brutal murder of openly gay Orange County, California, college student Blaze Bernstein, 20, claims he was motivated because he thought the young man was hitting on him, according to a 16-page affidavit published in the Orange County Register. Bernstein was found dead with more than 20 stab wounds near a shallow grave in a Lake Forest park. “Gay panic” is not considered a valid legal defense in the state of California.
2. The oldest Catholic university in the United States of America is getting LGBT-specific dormitory housing. “Our Catholic and Jesuit values call on us to engage with respect, compassion, and sensitivity with our LGBTQ community,” said Georgetown Vice President Todd Olson. The Washington, D.C., school was established in 1789.
3.“No asshole can cause me to change my demeanor and who the fuck I am,” First Sergeant Charles Davis II told the Daily Beast after surviving a horrific gay-bashing attack.
4. TV history was made last night on the CW with the premiere of the highly anticipated “Black Lightning,” which features television’s first black lesbian superhero, Thunder. The Advocate talked to Nafessa Williams, who portrays the heroine.
5. VIDEO OF THE DAY: YouTube’s Rhodes Brothers revisit their famous coming-out video three years after it went viral.