LGBT News

Politico reports: The Trump administration plans to officially launch a new panel on human rights as early as Monday — one already under scrutiny from Democrats who fear its stated focus on “natural law and natural rights” could undercut protections for women and LGBTQ people around the world. State Department officials are briefing officials in Washington this week on the …

NBC News reports: Amazon has removed English-language books by a man largely considered “the father of conversion therapy” from its site following mounting pressure from LGBTQ activists. Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, founder of the now-shuttered Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic, as well as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), authored several how-to guides directed to parents of LGBTQ …

ABC News reports: Around 5 million people attended WorldPride in New York City over the weekend, surpassing estimates of about 3 million, according to the mayor. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio commended the police department for keeping the crowds safe as visitors from around the globe flooded the city’s streets over the weekend to celebrate LGBTQ rights. He …

Former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman writes in a NYT op-ed: Members of the Republican Party are heirs to the legacies of Lincoln and Reagan. Our party should support people’s ability to reap the rewards of their labor — to earn a fair and honest living, and to work where they want to work. We are the party of economic freedom, …

WNBA star Sue Bird writes for The Players Tribune: What’s it like to have the literal President of the literal United States (of literal America) go Full Adolescent Boy on your girlfriend? Hmm. Well… it’s WEIRD. And I’d say I actually had a pretty standard reaction to it: which was to freak out a little. That’s one thing that you …

Chris Johnson reports at The Washington Blade: The U.S. Supreme Court has designed Oct. 8 as the date when it will hear arguments on whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to cases of anti-LGBT discrimination, setting up a showdown for when LGBT rights in all areas of life will hang in the balance. On Monday, …

Rolling Stone reports: Lil Nas X came out in a handful of Twitter messages posted Sunday, telling fans to listen closely to the lyrics on his 7 track “C7osure (You Like).” “Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone [fuck with me] no more,” he wrote. “But before this month ends I want …

Deutsche Welle reports: Police pushed back crowds celebrating Istanbul’s 17th gay pride march on Sunday, an event Turkish authorities had banned for the fifth year in a row. The rally, on a side street off Istanbul’s main pedestrian avenue, drew several hundred people who cheered and waved rainbow flags. Chants of “shoulder to shoulder against fascism” and “we will not …

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday signed a law banning the so-called “gay panic” defense in New York State, saying it “ends the justification of homophobia.” Cuomo scribbled his John Hancock on Bill A2707 in the thick of the Pride march in Manhattan as members from the LGBTQ cheered alongside him. “New York has always …

Curbed New York reports: This year’s NYC Pride March promises to be one of, if not the, biggest events of the year: For the first time, New York is playing host to WorldPride, the annual celebration of LGBTQ communities around the world. More than 550 organizations participated in last year’s Pride March, and it’s likely to be even bigger this …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: A threat posted on social media led the Carnegie Library in Oakland and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to cancel “Drag Queen Story Hour” programs this week. The threat, posted recently on the social media site Reddit, didn’t specifically name the Pittsburgh events but was “alarming enough” to cause the cancellation, said library spokeswoman Suzanne Thinnes. …

The New York Times reports: Visitors came from around the block and around the world, streaming through the streets surrounding the Stonewall Inn. Storefronts flew rainbow flags and pumped pulsing pop music onto the sidewalks, where vendors hawked Pride merchandise. Police officers sought refuge from the sweltering sun in doorways, and firefighters rested on their hulking red trucks. The crowd …

Variety reports: Jake Owen, who recently had his seventh No. 1 single at country radio, is at the top of the charts with a lot of gay country fans now that he’s expressed his solidarity with the LGBT community — a move that doesn’t come without at least some controversy among the genre’s fan base. His cheeky way of coming …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has issued a directive calling on a state agency to craft rules governing conversion therapy. In response to a question by FOX 13 on the status of legislation at his monthly news conference, the governor confirmed his directive. In a letter to Department of Commerce Director Francine …

The Guardian reports: Putin tried to defend Russia’s record on LGBT+ rights. “I am not trying to insult anyone because we have been condemned for our alleged homophobia. But we have no problem with LGBT persons. God forbid, let them live as they wish,” Putin said. “But some things do appear excessive to us. They claim now that children can …

Gay Star News reports: Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK will debate whether to make online homophobia a specific criminal offence. MPs will debate the issue on 1 July after a petition to them received more than 152,000 signatures. Reality TV star, Bobby Norris, started the petition after years of online abuse. The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) star …

Just out from PRRI Polling: Three in ten (30%) Americans say they think it should be permissible for a small business owner in their state to refuse to provide services to gay or lesbian people if doing so violates their religious beliefs, while two-thirds (67%) say they should not be allowed to do so. Support for religiously based service refusals …

Last night I attended the opening ceremonies for WorldPride/Stonewall 50 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center where NYC Pride dazzled the packed arena with a slick production that was by turns moving, inspiring, and just plain fabulous.  Variety reports: Whoopi Goldberg was the host of the evening, delivering an uplifting speech that set up the evening’s celebratory atmosphere while marking the 50th …

The Associated Press reports: Alphonso David, a civil rights lawyer who has been serving as chief counsel to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was named Tuesday as the new president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ-rights organization in the U.S. David, 48, is the first African American to lead the Human Rights Campaign since its founding in 1980. …

E & E News reports: After spending $66 to buy a new 3-by-5-foot nylon rainbow flag, the National Park Service flew it high at one of the agency’s newest monuments: the historic Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village, where a riot on June 28, 1969, launched the modern gay rights movement 50 years ago this week. But a trove …