New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proudly announced the creation of the Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs and nominated a transgender-identifying male to lead it.Mamdani said that New York City had the highest number of "queer" people of any city in the U.S. during the announcement Friday. Attorney Taylor Brown will be the first transgender person to lead an agency or office in New York City.'With Taylor Brown as director of the new Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, the city's queer community will not only be celebrated, but protected at every turn.' "New York City is proud of its LGBTQIA+ community and will refuse to deny health care, safety, or dignity to anyone on the basis of their identity," Mamdani said in a statement. "With Taylor Brown as director of the new Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, the city's queer community will not only be celebrated, but protected at every turn."Brown said the office would protect members of the LGBTQIA+ community from "hostile actors" in his statement."New York has given me everything — life-saving health care, education, a home, a career, my chosen family, and a life of purpose. I am so proud to serve this city as the inaugural director of the Mayor's Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs," he said."I will work every day to ensure that the doors of New York City remain open to all and to continue New York City's legacy as a beacon of opportunity and hope for those who have been ignored, discriminated against, and intentionally excluded," Brown added.The office will absorb the previous NYC Unity Project established under the de Blasio administration. RELATED: 'Tax them to the white meat!' Mamdani's new 'equity officer' posted now-deleted X posts against white women. Mamdani said the office will also work to make sure transgender and other LGBTQ+ members get as many city services as possible. Trans activists previously praised Mamdani for naming Abby Stein, a transgender-identifying man, ex-Orthodox Jew, and activist, to his transition team.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Outrage from the mother of an eighth-grade student at a New York middle school has led to a teacher being fired over a "racist" joke he made about slavery.Dorothy Hall went to the media and demanded action be taken against the teacher from Gaskill Preparatory School, a public middle school in Niagara Falls, New York. She said her son is scared of returning to school out of fear of retaliation.'Invoking the suffering of enslaved people to entertain oneself is a blatant violation of dignity and a direct assault on the humanity of African American students.'"He's afraid of being retaliated against," she said to WKBW-TV. "And I'm asking for the community to come together with me and my son, as well as the other student, because she absolutely didn't have to deal with that either as a child. Nobody should have to deal with it, but especially as a child."Hall initially said her complaint was not taken seriously by the district."I'm reaching out to my community because I need for the science teacher, first of all, to be terminated. As of today, he's only suspended with pay," she said.The Niagara Falls branch of the NAACP released a lengthy statement in support of her cause."Let's be clear: This is not a joke. This is a racist insult rooted in the brutal history of slavery, inflicted on children by someone entrusted to educate them. It is harmful. And it is absolutely unacceptable," reads the NAACP statement in part."This was an act of racial degradation directed at children who should never be forced to carry the weight of America's most violent history within the walls of their classroom," the organization added. "Invoking the suffering of enslaved people to entertain oneself is a blatant violation of dignity and a direct assault on the humanity of African-American students. It reveals a mindset that devalues African-American life, ignores historical trauma, and undermines any trust that families place in our public school system."RELATED: Elementary school librarian scolds first lady for sending 'racist' Dr. Seuss books "I need accountability and justice. That's what I need — my son needs. I don't need. My son needs it," Hall added.The last records available indicate that more than $19K is spent per child in the Niagara Falls City School District.Only 28% of students in the district are proficient in reading, while even fewer, 23%, are proficient in math.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Singer Gwen Stefani grew up in a Catholic household but drifted away from the Church as an adult — until an unexpected prayer brought her closer to God than she ever thought possible. The No Doubt co-founder and multi-platinum solo artist recently opened up about her newfound faith with Jeff Cavins from Christian prayer and meditation app Hallow.'Please, God, let my mom have a baby.'Stefani said her shift came 12 years ago, after talking to an acquaintance who had converted to Judaism despite a non-religious upbringing in Israel.Wake-up call"He was studying the Torah, and he had this big epiphany, ... and he starts talking to me about the Torah. And I was desperate at this point, too, during all this. I really wanted to have another baby," Stefani told Cavins. "I really did. And I couldn't."After describing the teachings of the Torah as "waking me up," she recalled talking to her then-8-year-old son about why he was unlikely to get his wish for a younger sibling."I'm sorry, your mommy's too old," she told him.He then shocked her with a spontaneous prayer: "Please, God, let my mom have a baby.""I never taught him that," Stefani marveled as she remembered the moment. RELATED: Country star Blake Shelton says he found God in 2019: 'I had one of those moments that you hear people talk about' Running to GodTo Stefani's surprise, she learned she was pregnant just four weeks later."I was pregnant with Apollo, who I had at 44 years old naturally, totally a full-on gift. And that was the first miracle," she explained."You can run from God, or you can run to God," Cavins responded, with Stefani noting that she was always taught to run toward him.The 56-year-old also revealed during her interview that the closest she feels to God is when she is doing music."Honestly, it's 'cause I'm desperate for him because I'm like, I'm about ready to go on stage, and I'm not nervous, but I just want God to use me. I just want people to see God's light through me," she explained.RELATED: 'I'm Japanese and I didn't know it': Singer Gwen Stefani defends fascination with the Asian country, faces questions about cultural appropriation December 2000. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Daily practiceStefani went on to say that she discovered the Hallow app during the COVID-19 lockdown and became so attached to the idea of daily prayer, she would have fears that one day the app would shut down and she wouldn't be able to use it.Now, she is doing work with the Christian prayer app, recently releasing videos like a 40-day Lent prayer challenge in which she encourages users of the app to pray every day leading up to Easter.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Want to make yourself the center of attention — without people thinking you're a bad person?"Jealous Type" singer Doja Cat has revealed a trick long-favored by celebrities when weighing in on the latest scandal — and you don't even have to know anything about the topic at hand. Welcome to the wonderful world of virtue signaling.'What I was doing yesterday was virtue signaling ... something that I could leverage.'The pop star's revelation came after actor Timothée Chalamet appeared on a CNN & Variety town hall, where he ruffled feathers with his passing remarks on the commercial irrelevance of opera and ballet."I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive!'" Chalamet said to co-host Matthew McConaughey.Whiny dancerThe comments prompted backlash from many in the entertainment industry, including Doja Cat — real name Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini — who lashed out at Chalamet in a TikTok video.After mocking the actor, she claimed that "people [do] give a f**k" about opera and ballet, and she praised its decorum."You show up in a nice outfit. You sit the f**k down and shut the f**k up," she said. "That's the usual etiquette around those things. Maybe learn something from that."Mea culpaJust one day later, however, Dlamini was singing a different tune."I know nothing about opera. I know nothing about ballet," she offered in a short, contrite follow-up. "I've never been to a ballet. I've never seen an opera," she revealed. "And I took it upon myself yesterday to kind of give it to the man because there is a culture based around outrage and things like that, and people want to feel like they're part of something. It's a need to connect, whether good or bad," she added.Dlamini then took her confession a step further and told fans she was only doing it for views.RELATED: Timothée Chalamet is right: Opera and ballet are dying — and you'll never guess why Rare honestyThe blunt confession was a rare moment of honesty in a culture generally concerned with trading outrage for clicks. "What I was doing yesterday was virtue signaling because I wanted to connect, and I knew that Timothée's goof-up was something that I could leverage in order for people to connect with me and f**k with me," the Los Angeles native went on.“And it's easy. It's a modern way to garner clicks, likes, approval, and all kinds of things like that from people. And so I did that yesterday, and I didn't really think about why I was doing it."RELATED: Gene Simmons' advice for celeb activists Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo: 'Shut the f**k up' Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 'Wanted a hug'"That was the perfect material for me to seem sincere. But the truth is, I don't know anything about opera. I don't know anything about ballet, and I've never been to either shows," she said.The 30-year-old also displayed some vulnerability when she discussed the deeper motivations behind her reaction. "I think I just wanted a hug. I think that's all that I wanted. I wanted a hug. I wanted to feel like I was part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to be pat on the back the way everybody else is patting each other on the back in the comments sections. And I wanted to look like a hero, and that's what happened. And when I got it, I didn't like it so much," she said.The half-Jewish, half-South African has been wildly successful over just five studio albums. She has gone platinum five times between 2019 and 2023, with her music gaining recognition in Switzerland, Sweden, and Great Britain.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!