1. The Pulse nightclub shooter originally intended to strike at Disney World, NBC News has reported. Prosecutors claim that Omar Mateen had planned to attack the theme park by hiding a gun in a stroller, but was scared off by a police presence. Mateen’s widow, Noor Salman, is being tried for her alleged part in the 2016 attack that killed 49 people.
2. Vice President Pence’s hometown will host its first Pride festival on April 14, according to CNN. The locale of Columbus, Indiana, will feature food booths, vendors, drag queens and other LGBTQ-related entertainments. Pence has been widely criticized as anti-LGBTQ since the beginning of the Trump Administration, particularly for his support of Indiana’s 2015 religious freedom bill.
3. State Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham), Alabama’s first openly LGBTQ legislator, received a standing ovation as she bid farewell to the House of Representatives before the last day of the legislative session Wednesday. “You are incredible, beautiful people, some people I thought I would never get along with or never like,” Todd told her fellow lawmakers.
4. James Ivory, Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Call Me By Your Name,” is reportedly irritated at the film’s director, Luca Guadagnino, for scrapping scenes of full-frontal male nudity that were originally intended to appear in the film. According to The Guardian, Ivory said “When Luca says he never thought of putting nudity in, that is totally untrue.” Ivory said that avoidance of sex “seemed phony” to him. Guadagnino has disagreed.
5. VIDEO OF THE DAY: Alt-pop group Cub Sport — who play Eddie’s Attic on April 3 — released the video “Crush” on Thursday. Their sophomore album, “BATS,” tells the coming-out story of lead singer Tim Nelson, and Nelson’s confession of love for his band-mate Sam Bolan. The Nelson-Bolan wedding is scheduled for August.