Civil Rights

Via press release from Christian Newswire: After many years of hearing God speak to him and calling him to be a last day’s prophet, Ken Bailey, has published his stunning new book, The End is Now Coming: God’s Urgent Warning to His Church and the Nations. In it, Bailey reveals the incredible messages that He has received from God, to …

West Palm Beach’s NBC affiliate reports: The city of Lake Worth Beach has become a sanctuary city for the LGBTQ+ community and their families, the first of its kind in the Sunshine State. On Tuesday, Sept. 5, commissioners voted unanimously for the declaration. “I think it’s time to take a stand that we affirmatively accept the people as they are,” …

Reuters reports: Hong Kong’s top court partially approved on Tuesday a landmark appeal by an LGBTQ activist for recognition of same-sex marriages, calling for new regulations for gay couples to protect their basic social needs. The ruling by Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal followed a five-year legal battle fought by jailed democracy and LGBTQ rights activist Jimmy Sham. It …

Courthouse News reports: A lawsuit seeking to invalidate a nearly two-century-old Wisconsin statute outlawing abortion will proceed, after the presiding judge on Friday denied a motion to dismiss the closely watched legal action. Days after the U.S. Supreme Court upended Roe v. Wade last summer, making abortion law an issue for individual states to decide, Democratic Wisconsin Attorney General Josh …

From Ipsos Polling: The Ipsos LGBT+ Pride 2023 survey finds that an average of 9% of adults in 30 countries identify as LGBT+, with sharp generational differences. The survey was conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform in February and March 2023 among more than 22,500 adults under the age of 75. On average, across the 30 countries …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Saturday issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida. According to the NAACP national headquarters, the advisory is a “direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis’ aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.” The advisory reads …

Harrisburg’s ABC affiliate reports: The Pennsylvania House narrowly passed a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. The bill, dubbed The Fairness Act, passed the House on Tuesday by a 102-98 vote after previously passing the House Appropriations and Judiciary committees. The bill amends the 1955 Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which already …

The Hill reports: Senate Republicans on Thursday night blocked a measure that would have allowed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to be added to the Constitution. Senators voted 51 to 47 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed, falling short of the 60 votes it it needed. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) were the lone Republicans …

The New York Times reports: Legislators in Montana are expected to vote Wednesday on whether to censure or discipline the state’s only transgender lawmaker, after an escalating standoff over her ability to speak in the House of Representatives led to heated protests and arrests on Monday and the abrupt cancellation of Tuesday’s session. The lawmaker, Representative Zooey Zephyr, shared a …

CBS News reports: A battle is brewing in the town of North Brookfield over a Pride event and whether a drag show should be allowed as part of the celebration on the town common June 24. In a 2 to 1 vote last week, the Board of Selectmen reversed itself from a vote in March, saying the Pride celebration could …

Via press release from Sen. Chuck Schumer: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today stood at NYC’s Roosevelt House alongside trailblazing women, including Gloria Steinem, the Honorable Carolyn Maloney, Hunter College Pres Jennifer Raab, students and other national and local leaders, and announced that he will set up a historic vote in the Senate this week on S.J. Res 2, …

The New York Times reports: Harry Belafonte, who stormed the pop charts and smashed racial barriers in the 1950s with his highly personal brand of folk music, and who went on to become a major force in the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 96. The cause was …

Via press release from Equality Florida: Today, Equality Florida took the extraordinary step of issuing a travel advisory, warning of the risks posed to the health, safety, and freedom of those considering short or long term travel, or relocation to the state. The move comes in response to a wave of safety inquiries Equality Florida has received following the passage …

The Huffington Post reports: The Department of Justice filed an immediate appeal following a Texas federal judge’s shocking decision Friday to pull the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion. The Justice Department appealed directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday night, only a few hours …

Forbes reports: Over the past thirty years, 49 UN member States have decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual acts, according to a new database by ILGA World. However, laws criminalizing being gay remain a reality for one-third of countries worldwide. It’s still illegal to be LGBTQ in 64 UN member States. In Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the death …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book and nine others were released from jail after being arrested Monday night on trespassing charges for protesting a six-week abortion ban that’s poised to pass the Legislature. “We know what we’re fighting for,” Fried said in an interview Tuesday. “If it takes us getting arrested …

The Hill reports: The results of an NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll, released Wednesday, show 58 percent of respondents said they oppose laws restricting the performances, while 39 percent said they support them. Democrats are the most likely to oppose such laws, with almost three-quarters of them saying they are opposed, but 57 percent of independents and 37 percent of Republicans also …

The Freedom From Religion Foundation reports: A new national survey has reassuring findings that Americans of almost all religions and no religion are growing ever more supportive of LGBTQ rights. For instance, eight in 10 Americans (80 percent) in the Public Religion Research Institute survey support laws against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing against gay, lesbian, bisexual and …

Law & Crime reports: The president of West Texas A&M University faces a federal lawsuit calling his cancellation of a student group’s drag show to benefit LGBTQ+ suicide prevention “textbook viewpoint discrimination” that violates the First Amendment. Student group Spectrum WT, which scheduled a show titled “A Fool’s Drag Race” for March 31, seeks an injunction forcing the university to …

Reuters reports: Uganda’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law that criminalises identifying as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. More than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), …