LGBT News

The Associated Press reports: Mississippi’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a woman has parental rights to a 6-year-old boy born to her ex-wife when the two were married, in a case watched by gay rights activists and groups aiding in vitro fertilization. Christina “Chris” Strickland brought the appeal, challenging a lower court decision that an anonymous sperm donor still had …

Billboard Magazine reports: Adam Rippon may be a professional figure skater, but he has shown over the last few months that he has a knack for marketing himself. The openly gay Olympian has been seen on almost every cable talk show imaginable, made a name for himself online, and seen multiple interviewers and fans asking him what he wants to …

The New York Times reports: Shortly after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, Justice Antonin Scalia attended a party where he signaled his displeasure by singing Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” “He sang with great verve,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told The Washington Post at the time. Now Mr. Dylan himself is crooning about same-sex love. …

Politico reports: There is “no medically valid reason” to exclude transgender people from serving in the military, the nation’s largest medical organization told Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday in a letter. The American Medical Association said the Pentagon’s recent evaluation of the requirements to accommodate transgender personnel “mischaracterized and rejected the wide body of peer-reviewed research on the effectiveness …

Maryland’s Capital Gazette reports: Del. Meagan Simonaire said in a dramatic speech Wednesday she would vote for a ban on conversion therapy for homosexuality and revealed that her father — state Sen. Bryan Simonaire — asked her to try the discredited treatment after she revealed she was bisexual. The Republican from Pasadena, who is not seeking re-election after one term, …

The New Strait Times reports: A contest at a leading Malaysian university seeking ideas to “convert” gay students sparked anger Wednesday, with activists warning it could drive people in the Muslim-majority country to suicide. It was the latest example of what rights groups say is growing intolerance towards Malaysia’s gay community as religious fundamentalism increases, eroding the multi-ethnic country’s traditionally …

Bermuda News reports: OUTBermuda and Maryellen Jackson have filed legal action in the Bermuda Supreme Court seeking an order declaring that provisions that “have the effect of revoking same-sex marriage” are in contravention of the Bermuda Constitution, with the local legal action — which marks the second filed about the matter — being backed by the Carnival cruise line. Carnival …

The Toronto Star reports: Toronto police will withdraw an application they submitted for officers to march in this year’s Pride parade. The decision was made to avoid “any setback” in the relationship between the police service and Toronto’s queer communities, chief Mark Saunders wrote in a statement Tuesday. The goal is to restore confidence in police in what, he admitted, …

Axios reports: Grindr has stopped sharing users’ HIV status with its third-party vendors, the company’s head of security told Axios. However, much of the concerns with Grindr’s data-sharing practices were a misunderstanding of what was being shared and with whom, says Grindr security chief Bryce Case. Grindr may have been sharing more information than needed, but it insists the most …

Buzzfeed News reports: The gay hookup app Grindr, which has more than 3.6 million daily active users across the world, has been providing its users’ HIV status to two other companies, BuzzFeed News has learned. The two companies — Apptimize and Localytics, which help optimize apps — receive some of the information that Grindr users choose to include in their …

The Washington Post reports: Costa Rica’s governing party won a big presidential election victory Sunday as many voters rejected an evangelical pastor who had jumped into political prominence by campaigning against same-sex marriage. The head of the Supreme Electoral Council, Luis Antonio Sobrado, said that with 95 percent of ballots counted Sunday night, Carlos Alvarado of the ruling Citizen Action …

The San Jose Mercury News report: Stephen Reinhardt, a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has died. He was 87. Reinhardt was considered to be one of the most liberal judges on the court. President Jimmy Carter appointed Reinhardt to the federal courts in 1980. One of Reinhardt’s most notable high-profile rulings in recent years was a 2012 …

The Indianapolis Star reports: The face painting, rainbow S’mores on a stick and drag performances planned for Columbus, Indiana’s first gay pride festival are for fun. But organizers hope the April 14 event also will send a message of inclusiveness from the hometown of Vice President Pence, who has a long record of being on the opposite side of issues …

The Irish Times reports: MPs have voted to give a second reading to a bill that would give same-sex couples in Northern Ireland the right to marry. Introducing the bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday, South Armagh-born Labour MP Conor McGinn said he was doing so “with reluctance and some disappointment”. He added: “This measure is long overdue. …

Via press release from Democratic National Committee: Today, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed into law a bill banning licensed therapists from attempting conversion therapy on minors. Washington becomes the 11th state in the nation to ban the practice. In response, DNC LGBTQ Media Director Lucas Acosta issued the following statement: “Today, Washington State takes a huge step forward in protecting …

The Connecticut Mirror reports: Senate Republicans voted as a bloc Tuesday to deny Andrew J. McDonald confirmation as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, stopping the ascent of a political and legal trailblazer for the gay community, a factor that opponents insisted was irrelevant and supporters said could not be ignored. Sen. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, the only openly …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: The Milwaukee Common Council Tuesday voted to ban a controversial therapy that aims to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, a practice known as “conversion therapy.” Aldermen vote 12-2 in favor of the ban, with one abstention. Supporters and opponents of the ban packed Tuesday’s meeting at City Hall, with opponents occasionally shouting “Amen!” “This …

The Starkville Daily News reports: Close to 3,000 people flooded downtown Starkville on Saturday for the first LGBTQ Pride parade in the city’s history. After grabbing national attention, the grassroots group Starkville Pride was allowed to move forward with its parade despite initially being voted down by the city’s Board of Aldermen in late February. The group took legal action …

The Associated Press reports: In a 4-3 decision, Louisiana’s Supreme Court on Friday rejected Gov. John Bel Edwards’ attempt to revive an executive order protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in state government. The court refused to hear arguments on Edwards’ April 2016 order banning discrimination in state government and state contracts based on sexual orientation …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and fought out in the courts. The memorandum, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, states that while the Secretary of …