LGBT News

The Washington Post reports: When is a wedding cake not just a cake, but a statement of profound religious beliefs? That’s the question being debated today at Supreme Court as it hears oral arguments about LGBT rights yet again. This fight is much different than the one settled two years ago in Obergefell v. Hodges, which declared that states cannot …

Deutsche Welle reports: Same-sex couples will be allowed to marry in Austria from 2019, according to a ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court announced on Tuesday. Same-sex couples in Austria have been able to enter only into “registered partnerships” since 2010, with nearly the same rights of married couples. But the court ruled that “the distinction between marriage and registered …

The Associated Press reports: Tim Wilson, a 37-year-old lawmaker in the conservative coalition government, was among the first lawmakers to join the House of Representatives debate and toward the end of his speech popped the question to his partner of seven years Ryan Bolger, who was watching from the public gallery. “In my first speech I defined our bond by …

The Log Cabin Republicans are just thrilled to get “formal recognition” and praise from the Republican Party on their 40th anniversary. Meanwhile, the Department Of Justice has formally endorsed the Christian right’s campaign to legalize anti-LGBT discrimination and even asked for speaking time when the Supreme Court hears the anti-gay baker case next week. And then there’s the Trump administration’s …

Trump just issued his first World AIDS Day proclamation and it rather pointedly makes no mention of the lopsided impact of HIV infection on gay men, trans people, or people of color. Trump does, however, single out “adolescent girls and young women.” For comparison, here’s a bit of Obama’s 2016 message: In the United States, more than 1.2 million people …

The New York Post reports: The Bronx teen accused of fatally stabbing a 15-year-old classmate and nearly killing another walked free Wednesday on $250,000 bond. “I am grateful to the people who donated to my bond fund,” Abel Cedeno, 18, said in a statement handed out to the media, which he said would be his last public comments on the …

The Associated Press reports: FIFA’s anti-discrimination advisers are warning gay soccer fans going to the 2018 World Cup in Russia that displays of affection could be met with an aggressive response from intolerant locals. As fans prepare their trips after Friday’s World Cup draw, the FARE network said it will produce a guide spelling out the threats to be prepared …

San Diego’s CBS affiliate reports: Friends of a San Diego couple fear the worst after the pair, known for their risqué travel photos, was caught up in a scandal overseas and disappeared. The couple, Travis Ti and Joseph Dasilva, took photos at Buddhist temples in Thailand, and the concern has grown on social media after a post said they were …

The Guardian reports: The Australian Senate has passed a same-sex marriage bill, the first marriage equality bill to pass either house of federal parliament, succeeding where more than 20 previous attempts have failed. Two weeks after the announcement that 61.6% of those who participated in the unprecedented national postal survey voted in favour of same-sex marriage, the Senate passed the …

Far-right Christian blog LifeSiteNews is ever so pissed: The Barbie children’s doll is being used to further LGBT issues. “Proud to wear this “Love Wins” shirt,” states a Barbie-associated Instagram account, along with a photo of two dolls wearing the LGBT-themed t-shirt. The “Love Wins” slogan is associated with support for legalization of gay marriage. An iconic blond Barbie doll …

The CBC reports: The Canadian government has tabled [introduced] a bill that will allow people convicted of historical same-sex offences to have their criminal records expunged. Proposed legislation aims to correct a “historical injustice” now recognized as the criminalization of same-sex activity by consenting adults, effectively removing from the record convictions that would today be inconsistent with the Charter of …

“I want to reflect for a moment on the message this will send, in particular, to young gay people. To the boy or girl who senses a difference from their friends, which they find difficult to understand and impossible to deal with. How many hundreds of thousands of young Australians have known that fear? How many have lived with it, …

CBC news reports: The Trudeau government has earmarked more than $100 million to compensate members of the military and other federal agencies whose careers were sidelined or ended due to their sexual orientation, The Canadian Press has learned. The money will be paid out as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement to employees who were investigated, sanctioned and sometimes fired …

Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: An emotional Sarah Hanson-Young has broken down in parliament while speaking on the bill to make gay marriage legal today. The South Australian Greens senator could not fight her tears, or running mascara, as she issued a heartfelt apology to her former party leader Bob Brown, a gay man and LGBTIQ rights activist, that parliament …

On Top Magazine reports: Tens of thousands of activists on Saturday joined a protest in Santiago, Chile to demand passage of laws that would extend marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples and protect transgender people. According to organizer the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), 100,000 people attended the protest. Demonstrators marched from Plaza Italia to Plaza Los …

The Daily Mail reports: Two British men are among at least 22 people who were injured when a nightclub dancefloor collapsed in Tenerife. Revellers in the Playa de las Americas area plunged 10ft into the basement of the popular gay bar Butterfly Disco Pub when the dance floor collapsed. All of the victims, who are aged between 20 and 60, …

Agence France-Presse reports: Rainbow flags flowed through the streets of Hong Kong Saturday during the city’s annual pride parade, as LGBT activists criticised authorities for lagging behind on equal rights. This year Hong Kong was picked as the first Asian city to host the Gay Games, while a landmark court decision granted a British lesbian the right to live and …

Gay Star News reports: Chile will finally begin the important steps of debating marriage equality on Monday (27 November). President Michelle Bachelet introduced the bill on 28 August, intending to modify the language to open up marriage to same-sex couples. The Senate Constitution Committee has requested several organizations, from LGBTI groups to religious leaders, to come forward and make their …

The New York Times reports: The European Union’s highest court began examining a case on Tuesday over a Romanian man’s attempts to get legal residency for his American husband, a closely watched hearing that will have major implications for the legal recognition of same-sex relationships across Europe. The case, legal experts say, could determine whether same-sex partners are afforded some …

Reuters reports: Hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia have doubled in five years, researchers said on Tuesday, in the wake of a law banning “gay propaganda”. Murders accounted for almost 200 out of 250 crimes analyzed, the Center for Independent Social Research said, attributing the surge to Russia’s 2013 ban on the spreading of …