Civil Rights

House To Hear Bill To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination On One Month Anniversary Of Pulse Massacre

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: A U.S. House committee has scheduled a hearing on July 12 for federal “religious freedom” legislation seen to enable anti-LGBT discrimination, the Washington Blade has learned. The House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform is set to hold a hearing on the First Amendment Defense Act amid pressure from anti-LGBT advocates, including the …

Read More »

Homophobia Experiment On London’s Tube [VIDEO]

Pink News sets up the clip: Tube passengers stepped up to challenge a homophobe laying into a gay couple – as part of a social experiment. Internet prankster Julius Dein decided to stage the experiment on the London Underground, with two friends playing a gay couple. Meanwhile, Dein was pretending to be a homophobe who attacked the pair for cuddling …

Read More »

NORTH CAROLINA: State House GOP Seeks To “Refine” Anti-Trans Hate Bill, Activists Leap To Denounce

From the Charlotte Observer: New legislation drafted by leadership in the N.C. House of Representatives seeks to walk back portions of a controversial bill passed during a special session this spring restricting the rights of transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their gender identity. Among the draft bill’s biggest changes is the creation of an official document that would …

Read More »

MISSISSIPPI: Federal Court Strikes Down Law That Allows Clerks To Refuse Gay Marriage Licenses

Another win for DOMA champion Roberta Kaplan. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A federal judge on Monday ruled that Mississippi’s recently passed law that allows county clerks to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses based on their religious beliefs was, effectively, an impermissible attempt to get around the Supreme Court’s marriage decision. “[T]he Supreme Court’s ruling will be enforced,” U.S. …

Read More »

Kim Davis To Court: Dismiss That Lawsuit Against Me

From the Associated Press: A Kentucky clerk who spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples has asked a federal appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit against her because of a new state law that will take effect next month. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses after a U.S. Supreme Court …

Read More »

BRITAIN: Parliament Flies Rainbow Flag For First Time

Pink News reports: Today the flag was raised above the Houses of Parliament for the first time – with the Speakers of the Commons and Lords both giving special permission to mark the weekend of London’s Pride festival. LGBT group ParliOUT had gifted a 12 foot rainbow flag for the occasion, with the flag set to fly until June 26. …

Read More »

TRAILER: The Freedom To Marry

Just in from Evan Wolfson, former president of the gone-out-of-business Freedom To Marry: On June 26, it will be one year since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the freedom to marry nationwide. Love won – and the path to our triumphant victory stretched back years and miles. It was paved by the efforts, talents, and engagement of millions of people. …

Read More »

NEW YORK CITY: United Nations Ambassadors Meet At Stonewall Inn To Discuss Global LGBT Rights

Via press release from the State Department: An historic meeting happened today at the Stonewall Inn, where U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and member of President Obama’s Cabinet, Samantha Power, hosted a meeting of the UN’s LGBT Core Group. The LGBT Core Group is a group of countries working to promote and enshrine LGBT rights as human rights at …

Read More »

PHILADELPHIA: Public School System Adopts Sweeping Pro-Transgender Student Rights Policy

Morning Call reports: The governing body of Philadelphia public schools has adopted a new policy that would allow transgender students to use restrooms and join groups — including athletic teams — that correspond with their gender identity. The Philadelphia School Reform Commission adopted the new policy Thursday night. It also allows students to be referred to by a pronoun of …

Read More »

Obama Warns White House Pride Month Crowd: History Can Move Backwards On LGBT Rights [VIDEO]

USA Today reports: President Obama told gay rights activists Thursday that they need to be vigilant to continue the progress they’ve made over the last eight years of his presidency. “Together we’ve proven that change is possible, that progress is possible,” he told a reception for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists at a White House reception — the eighth …

Read More »

BREAKING: Fourth Circuit Court Lifts Stay On Order Granting Transgender Student Restroom Rights

A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals just denied the stay motion filed Wednesday by Virginia’s Gloucester County School Board, which seeks to thwart the federal mandate on transgender student rights. That filing two days ago had triggered an automatic stay on the pro-trans April order while the Court considered their demand. The vote today was 2-1. …

Read More »

ILLINOIS: Bomb Damages Target Ladies Room, Police Investigate Connection To Trans Policy [VIDEO]

Chicago’s WGN-TV reports: A small bomb exploded in the women’s bathroom at a Target store in Evanston on Wednesday, and officials are investigating whether it’s connected to the company’s policy allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice. Commander Joe Dugan says no one was inside the bathroom when the small explosion happened a little after 4 o’clock. …

Read More »

NYC Launches Pro-Trans Ad Campaign So Of Course Todd Starnes Flips Out On Fox News [VIDEO]

ABC News reports on the ads: New York City launched a new campaign on Monday, affirming every New Yorkers’ right to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity. “No one deserves to be denied access to bathrooms or discriminated against for being who they are. Every New Yorker has the legal right to use the bathroom consistent with their …

Read More »

CALIFORNIA: Target Stands Firm After Haters Ambush Shareholders Meeting Over Support For LGBT Rights

Just as they did at PepsiCo’s shareholders meeting in North Carolina last month and at Walmart’s shareholders meeting in Arkansas last week, anti-LGBT activists from the National Center for Public Policy Research ambushed Target executives at yesterday’s annual shareholders meeting in Costa Mesa, California. A spokesman for the group confronted Target’s board of directors, demanding to know if they had …

Read More »

BREAKING: Fourth Circuit Court Stays Pro-Transgender Rights Ruling Pending Possible Review By SCOTUS

NOTE: An important clarification is below. Earlier: That was amazingly fast. Patch.com reports: A stay has been issued in the case of a Virginia school’s transgender bathroom policy, meaning the case will go before the Supreme Court of the United States, according to a report. The Gloucester County School Board passed a policy restricting students to restrooms reflecting their “biological …

Read More »

VIRGINIA: Haters Take Trans Case To SCOTUS

Last month the Fourth Circuit Court refused to revisit its ruling, so we knew this was coming. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A case challenging the Obama administration’s interpretation of existing civil rights laws as providing protections from discrimination for transgender people will be headed to the Supreme Court this summer. Because the court is soon recessing for the summer, …

Read More »

Obama Praises Muhammad Ali As “The Greatest, Period”

President Obama has issued a heartfelt statement on the passing of Muhammad Ali. He writes: Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him, he’d tell you. He’d tell you he was the double greatest; that he’d “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder into jail.” But what made The Champ the greatest – what truly separated him from everyone else …

Read More »

Muhammad Ali Dies At Age 74

NBC News reports: Muhammad Ali, the silver-tongued boxer and civil rights champion who famously proclaimed himself “The Greatest” and then spent a lifetime living up to the billing, is dead. Ali died Friday at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he had spent the past few days being treated for respiratory complications, a family spokesman confirmed to NBC News. He was 74. …

Read More »

JUST PEE: Harvey Fierstein, Cyndi Lauper, & Kinky Boots Cast Sing Against Anti-Trans Laws [VIDEO]

MUST WATCH: Harvey Fierstein, Cyndi Lauper, and the cast of the Tony winning Best Musical Kinky Boots today delivered us a fun message against those stupid, stupid anti-transgender bathroom laws. “I’m me! I don’t need ID to tell who am I and where I oughta pee!”

Read More »

Pat McCrory: I’m Not Budging On Anti-LGBT Hate Law

From the Winston-Salem Journal: Gov. Pat McCrory said he will continue to fight for a “respect for privacy” in the face of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over the state’s controversial “bathroom bill.” McCrory was speaking at North Carolinians for Home Education’s annual conference, being held this week at the Benton Convention Center. McCrory praised the several hundred families …

Read More »