LGBT News

Let’s take a break from election infighting and virus doomsday scenarios for a thirsty look at next week’s Winter Party Festival, Florida’s longest-running and largest LGBT charity event, which has raised millions for local HIV/AIDS and LGBT rights campaigns. From the organizers at the National LGBTQ Task Force: Our work to lift barriers related to HIV/AIDS reaches across a number …

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Justin Flippen, the mayor of Wilton Manors, died suddenly Tuesday. Flippen was 41. He was elected mayor in 2018 after serving as a city commissioner. City officials said that Flippen apparently was driving to Tuesday evening’s City Commission meeting when he became ill and died. “We were notified that Justin apparently was on his way …

Total Croatia News reports: Bakova povorka, the pinnacle of a 150-year tradition of carnival festivities in Imotski, Croatia was engulfed by scandal on Sunday afternoon when enthusiastic residents set fire to an effigy of a gay couple to widespread cheers. Imotski residents chose to feature a gay couple with an adopted child, which had a five-pointed star on his forehead …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a dispute over a Philadelphia Catholic agency that won’t place foster children with same-sex couples. The justices will review an appeals court ruling that upheld the city’s decision to stop placing children with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s agency because it would not permit same-sex couples to serve as …

The Colorado Sun reports: A 9-year-old Lone Tree boy who joined Pete Buttigieg on stage at a campaign rally in Aurora on Saturday night and who asked for advice on telling the world he is gay told The Colorado Sun he was proud to talk about his sexuality in front of thousands of people. Zachary Ro’s question came as the …

Reuters reports: A major Bollywood gay film has been banned in the conservative United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to a sizeable South Asian community, the director said on Friday as his new movie hit theatres in India. Touted as India’s first gay male romantic comedy, “Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan” (“Be Extra Careful About Marriage”) stars popular actor Ayushmann Khurrana as …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump celebrated the release of a Bollywood gay romance movie, Friday, ahead of a trip to India. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, which is reportedly “hoping to win over older people, following the decriminalisation of homosexuality” in India in 2018 by featuring a romantic plot between two men, was signal-boosted by the president on Friday, who shared …

The Associated Press reports: Gov. Andy Beshear spoke against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and supported a ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth during a historic appearance at a gay-rights rally Wednesday at Kentucky’s Capitol. Beshear became Kentucky’s first sitting governor to attend a rally staged by the Fairness Campaign in the Capitol Rotunda, a few …

The Des Moines Register reports: An Ames man has been charged with indecent exposure following several incidents within Story County Jail in Nevada, according to court records. Adolfo Martinez, 30, is serving a 17-year sentence for burning a LGBTQ flag in June. According to court documents, an internal investigation looked at jail footage of Martinez and found multiple incidents where …

Via press release from Christian Newswire: Southern California Christian pastor has appealed a NY federal judge’s decision to dismiss his sexual orientation and religious discrimination case against Vimeo. Tyler & Bursch, LLP has filed the appeal today on behalf of Pastor Jim Domen, a “former” homosexual, and Church United, the religious non-profit organization founded by Domen. “This case is significant …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: A newly uncovered video shows Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg in 2019 describing transgender people as “he, she, or it” and “some guy in a dress” who enters girls locker rooms — invoking a conservative cliché as he argued that transgender rights are toxic for presidential candidates trying to reach Middle America. And yet, …

This is only news due to the Cory Booker connection, which the cultists will surely leap upon. Entertainment Tonight reports: Rosario Dawson is proud of the love in her life. The 40-year-old Briarpatch star opens up in a new interview about questions surrounding her sexuality following a 2018 Pride month post. “People kept saying that I [came out]… I didn’t …

CNN reports: Oklahoma’s state House of Representatives has advanced a bill that would ban so-called “conversion therapy,” a widely rejected practice that seeks to change the sexuality of LGBTQ individuals, for minors. The “Youth Mental Health Protection Act” moved past committee with bipartisan support and will soon move to the full legislature for a vote. Efforts to ban conversion therapy …

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins: Family Research Council Action announced today its “True Blue” award winners for the First Session of the 116th Congress. The annual award recognizes the members of Congress who displayed unwavering commitment and support of faith, family, and freedom. This year’s 141 True Blue Award winners — 51 senators and 90 representatives …

Cleveland.com reports: A new bill in the Ohio House would ban conversion therapy — programs intended to end same-sex attraction and make a gay person straight. The conversion therapy bill is sponsored by Rep. Mary Lightbody, a Columbus-area Democrat. “Human beings are complex, and each individual is unique,” Lightbody said in a statement. “As children grow, we all learn about …

ABC News reports: A gay Missouri police officer who won a “historic” $20 million judgment in a sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit alleging he was told to “tone down your gayness” by a police commission board member has reached a settlement with St. Louis County for half the amount a jury awarded him. The settlement in the discrimination case filed by …

RTE news reports: Two Belfast women have become the first same-sex partners to get married in Northern Ireland. Robyn Peoples, 26, and Sharni Edwards, 27, tied the knot at 2pm in Carrickfergus, just outside Belfast, following the landmark law change last year championed by the Love Equality campaign. “We didn’t expect to be the first couple, it’s coincidental,” said Ms …

Stuff New Zealand reports: Religious heckling towards participants of the Auckland Pride march was “quite jarring”, an organiser says. About 7000 members of the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) communities took part in the march on Saturday through Auckland’s CBD. They were met with a group of protesters on Queen St, who then followed the participants …

The BBC reports: Voters in Switzerland have backed a proposal to make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sexual identity illegal. The result of 63.1% in favour to 36.9% against is a huge boost for Switzerland’s LGBT community. It had argued Swiss law on the issue lagged far behind other countries in Europe. Opponents of the new law …

Radio Free Europe reports: Artyom Lapov, a lawyer from the gay rights group Stimul, said on February 7 that jurors at the trial at the Basmanny district court found Anton Berezhnoi not guilty of murder in the beating of Roman Yedalov, instead convicting him of a lesser charge of assault. Investigators say Berezhnoi attacked Yedalov and his partner, Yevgeny Yefimov, …