LGBT News

The Associated Press reports: Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed a new directive to prohibit LGBT-based discrimination in state services or by state contractors, replacing a narrower order that her Republican predecessor issued days before he left office. Whitmer’s directive, like one signed by Gov. Rick Snyder in late December, says state contracts, grants and loans must include a …

Singapore’s Straits Times reports: Chinese gay dating app Blued is halting new user registration for a week, it said on Sunday (Jan 6), following media reports that underage users caught HIV after going on dates set up via the world’s largest networking app for the LGBT community. On Saturday (Jan 5), citing academic research, financial magazine Caixin said juveniles were …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Don Lemon had an issue with comments Kevin Hart made during his interview on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show, and he addressed them in an emotional segment on CNN Tonight Friday. Lemon, who spoke on behalf of both the African-American and gay communities, noted that, while Hart has addressed his homophobic jokes in the past, there is no …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Ellen DeGeneres’ attempts to play peacemaker between The Academy and Kevin Hart has engendered a social media backlash. Hart, who stood down as Oscars host after the resurfacing of past homophobic tweets, taped an interview with DeGeneres on Thursday that was originally due to air on Monday, but the producers of Ellen deemed it newsworthy enough …

The Associated Press reports: Newly installed President Jair Bolsonaro targeted Brazil’s indigenous groups, descendants of slaves and the LGBT community with executive orders in the first hours of his administration, moving quickly after a campaign in which the far-right leader said he would radically overhaul many aspects of life in Latin America’s largest nation. In removing LGBT concerns from the …

The Associated Press reports: Two Austrian women are the first same-sex couple to officially tie the knot in the predominantly Catholic country, following years of legal challenges from gay rights groups. Austria’s constitutional court ruled in 2017 that same-sex couples should have the right to marry from Jan. 1, 2019. Previously, same-sex couples could only enter into a registered partnership …

Variety reports: People expected something a week ago when Stonewall Inn — the bar in New York’s Greenwich Village where the riots that kicked off the modern LGBTQ movement took place in 1969 — announced that Madonna had been named an ambassador for the 50th anniversary celebrations. However, they may not have expected it quite so soon. On New Year’s …

Via press release from Truth Wins Out: A day after it sent an open letter to the CEO’s of Amazon and Google, Truth Wins Out applauded Amazon for removing an “ex-gay” app from its online store. Amazon’s commendable move follows Apple’s elimination of the app last week, after TWO launched a petition that urged Apple to take action. If one …

The New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings has upheld a ruling by the Taxi & Limousine Commission against cabbie Martin Morrison for ejecting a gay passenger. The New York Post reports: The male and female complainants said they got into Morrison’s cab at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 43rd Street in Manhattan just before 1 …

Another win for Wayne Besen’s Truth Wins Out. NBC News reports: Apple has removed from its online store a religious app accused of falsely portraying being gay as an “addiction,” “sickness,” and “sin” after a national gay-rights organization petitioned to have it pulled. Truth Wins Out, which says it fights “anti-gay religious extremism,” launched a petition Thursday urging Apple to …

The CBC reports: The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing a new $1 coin design next year, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was decriminalized in 1969, two years after then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, famously declaring “there’s no place for the state in the …

Back in July, former Republican US House Rep. Aaron Schock petitioned the US Supreme Court to intervene in his corruption case, which has included controversial questions about his sexuality posed by prosecutors, who apparently want to know who Schock’s traveling companions really were on publicly-funded trips. Today eagle-eyed JMG reader Chris tips us that Schock has commented on the Instagram …

Via press release from Equality Ohio: Today, Governor John Kasich issued Executive Order 2018-12K to take a significant step in ensuring that all Ohioans, including LGBTQ Ohioans, are protected from discrimination in state employment. This Executive Order explicitly prohibits discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and other protected bases such as race, …

NBC News reports: Members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces civil rights laws in the workplace, are routinely reconfirmed in a bipartisan manner. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, however, is bucking the norm by putting a hold on the reappointment of Chai Feldblum, the first openly LGBTQ person to sit on the commission, because of her …

Just in from Lambda Legal: Today, Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN, with partner law firm Winston & Strawn, filed a lawsuit on behalf of two HIV-positive members of the United States Air Force who were given discharge orders just days before the holiday season. Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the lawsuit, Roe and Voe v. Mattis, in the U.S. District Court …

The Associated Press reports: Cuba’s government said Tuesday that language promoting the legalization of gay marriage will be removed from the draft of a new constitution after widespread popular rejection of the idea. Gay rights advocates had proposed eliminating the description of marriage as a union of a man and woman, changing it to the union of “two people … …

Via press release: Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, the first openly gay man elected to the New York State legislature who successfully led the fight for and passage of Marriage Equality in New York, was endorsed today in his race for New York City Public Advocate by the LGBTQ Victory Fund. Victory Fund is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to changing the …

From the game’s website: Jesus Strikes Back: Judgement Day is a heartwarming tale following a group of unlikely friends through a very crazy world. The game is guaranteed fun for all the family envisioning Jesus’s return to a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by radical socialism and religious fanatics. With the complete downfall of worldwide civilization and the freedom, liberty and independence …

“Religious liberty is a fundamental freedom. It deserve the very highest protection our country can provide. At the same time, it’s also important to account of other interests as well — especially those of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. “Pluralism shows us a better way. It shows us that protecting religious liberty and preserving the rights of LGBTQ individuals are …

The New York Daily News reports: City anti-discrimination law trumped religious rules in the case of a Jewish lesbian comic Brooklyn rabbis sought to bar from performing at a kosher restaurant on New Year’s Eve. The Vaad Harabanim of Flatbush had put the kosher kibosh on Leah Forster’s gig after it decided allowing the restaurant to host it would be …