Civil Rights

By a vote of 71-24, India’s Parliament today rejected a bill to decriminalize homosexual acts. The Hindustan Times reports: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s private member’s bill to decriminalise gay sex was rejected in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the former minister saying it was “surprising to see such intolerance”. Tharoor had proposed to amend Section 377 of the Indian …

The Baltimore Sun reports: Judge Barry G. Williams on Wednesday declared a mistrial in the trial of Officer William G. Porter on all four counts. Porter, 26, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office in the April arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby charged Porter and five other …

“Watch the 13 milestones that changed the world for LGBT people in 2015 and news coverage that illustrates 6 reasons why our battle isn’t over. From marriage equality to an end on the military ban on transgender people, 2015 will be remembered as a landmark year for the LGBT civil rights movement, but learn why we’ve still got so much …

As part of Human Rights Day, United Nations delegates will today be shown the below Zachary Quinto-narrated video about the social costs of anti-LGBT discrimination. This is the first such campaign for the UN. Watch below.

We knew THIS was coming: Alabama now faces a federal lawsuit over its voter ID law after closing 30 or so driver’s licenses offices, many of them in areas with high African-American populations. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is bringing the suit on behalf of Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama NAACP. It was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court …

Well, this is a welcome surprise coming from someone who campaigned on opposing same-sex marriage. NOLA.com reports: Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards plans to issue an executive order to protect the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community from firing, discrimination and harassment as state employees and government contractors. Edwards’ directive would cover state workers and government contractors in agencies and departments …

Homosexuality remains criminalized in 40 Commonwealth nations. Newly-elected Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland wants to do something about that. Via the Independent: A report this month by the Kaleidoscope Trust shows that more than 90 per cent of LGBT Commonwealth citizens live in jurisdictions where they are treated as criminals or suffer discrimination. Testimony from LGBT people in that report …

The owners of an upstate New York wedding venue yesterday appeared in court to appeal the $13,000 fine imposed last year after they turned away a lesbian couple. The Associated Press reports: The Giffords’ lawyer, James Trainor, said at the time of the initial ruling that he was surprised the judge did not incorporate the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hobby …

Last night SNL’s Weekend Update segment took on the haters in Houston. Best line: “So the theory is that guys, in their relentless quest to watch women go to the bathroom, are going through years of hormones surgery, changing their names, their wardrobe, coming out to their families, all for that big payoff of peeing in a room without urinals. …

The Human Rights Campaign today filed a formal complaint against Judge Scott Johansen with Utah Judicial Conduct Commission. From their letter to the commission: On behalf of the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) more than 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide, I write to call your attention to a formal complaint that we have filed with the Commission regarding Judge Scott …

Australia’s Senate today voted against holding a public referendum on same-sex marriage, instead calling for a free vote in their chamber by the end of the year. Gay News Network reports: Greens senator Robert Simms (pictured) introduced the motion. Simms is the Greens spokesperson on LGBTI issues and marriage equality. “Momentum continues to build for marriage equality in this country,” …

National Center for Lesbian Rights head Kate Kendell has quit the Mormon Church over its recent policy statement on gay couples and their families. From her op-ed in the Washington Post: I just did something I thought I would never do. I resigned my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and asked that my …

The Washington Post reports: The White House endorsed legislation Tuesday that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, plunging into the next front in the national battle over LGBT rights. Speaking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the administration “has been reviewing for several weeks” …

The anonymous author of the vile “Drop The T” petition has conducted an interview with the right wing site The Federalist in which he claims to be a liberal. The petition has drawn support from infamous homocons like Breitbart columnist Milo Yiannopoulos. From the interview: Based on comments I’ve seen at various forums around the net, I’m certain that it …

“I USED to be a child molester. Not in actuality. In the popular imagination. In public debate. That’s how gay men were once portrayed — not just as sexual deviants but as sexual prowlers, sexual predators, their eyes lecherously trained on the young, the vulnerable, the recruitable. Hatemongers spread this slander to argue that we mustn’t be teachers, shouldn’t be …

As many of you surely know, for the last few years Kathleen Perrin at Equality Case Files has provided this site and other LGBT news outlets with virtually instantaneous reporting on breaking legal developments critical to advancing our movement. DOMA, state marriage rulings, gay adoption, ex-gay torture bans, court recordings, Kim Davis, Obergefell – you name it and Equality Case …

This afternoon GLAAD fired back at the outrageous homocon petition I posted early today with a Change.org petition of their own. [Important correction below.] As you can see above, GLAAD has vowed to unequivocally “stand firm” with the transgender community. GLAAD was one of several national LGBT group targeted in the homocon petition which demands that trans people be excised …

Carlos Maza at Media Matters: “Imagine if LGBT groups talked about the ‘bathroom predator’ myth the same way Seth Myers did.” Exactly. Watch this.

From the editorial board of the New York Times: There are no documented cases of peeping Toms or rapists taking advantage of anti-discrimination ordinances that have extended legal protections to transgender Americans in recent years. San Antonio passed a similar ordinance in 2013 that expanded civil rights without driving up criminal assaults. And of course, no one expects that Houston …

“The haters insist trans women aren’t women. They’re men. Men who fake being women because they wanna enter women’s restrooms to ogle women and girls. So they’re saying trans women are actually straight men. Straight men who pretend to be women specifically to enter women’s restrooms to ogle (or worse) women and girls because opportunities to ogle women and girls …