LGBT News

Google Celebrates Leonard Bernstein’s 100th Birthday

Newsweek reports: The life and work of American music composer Leonard Bernstein is being celebrated with a Google Doodle marking the famed musician’s 100th birthday. In a statement, Google said its Doodle “celebrates Bernstein’s life set to one of his most iconic works—the score to West Side Story.” Bernstein, who died Oct. 14, 1990, aged 72, was the youngest conductor …

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UTAH: Homocon State Republican Official Blames LGBT Suicide Rate On Self-Loathing Due To Promiscuity

The Huffington Post reports: A gay Utah Republican official is experiencing a backlash after implying that suicide rates in the LGBTQ community are linked to having a high number of sex partners. Dave Robinson, who is the Salt Lake County Republican Party’s new communication director, said in a Monday meeting with the Salt Lake Tribune’s editorial board that he knows …

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Disney Channel Star Garrett Clayton Comes Out

The New York Daily News reports: Disney Channel star Garrett Clayton, who starred in “Teen Beach Movie” as well as NBC’s “Hairspray Live,” came out as gay Monday in a moving Instagram post. Clayton, 27, penned the post as an explanation as to why he signed on to the upcoming film “Reach,” and quietly slipped in the fact that he …

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Gay Couple Sets Up Scholarship Fund In Name Of Late Lesbian Daughter Of Man Who Protested Roy Moore

You may recall the lone Alabama man protesting at a Roy Moore rally with a sign lamenting the suicide death of his lesbian daughter. The man’s sad vigil led to an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show and now, thanks to a wealthy gay couple, a scholarship fund in his daughter’s name. The Birmingham Herald reports: This week, Elliott Mitchell …

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Labor Department Quietly Grants Federal Contractors “Religious Exemptions” To Discriminate Against LGBTs

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: President Donald Trump offered skeptical LGBT Americans an olive branch when he took office in January 2017. The White House promised to safeguard a 2014 executive order that protects workers, announcing former President Obama’s ban on anti-LGBT discrimination by federal contractors “will remain intact.” But on Aug. 10 of this year, the Department of …

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CALIFORNIA: State Senate Approves Bill Defining Conversion Therapy As Fraud, Allows Victims To Sue

Courthouse News reports: California is on the verge of shunning treatments that promise to “cure” patients of homosexuality through hypnosis, counseling and even electric shock sessions. The state Senate on Thursday cleared a proposal to list so-called conversion therapy as a fraudulent business practice, bringing it under the umbrella of state consumer-protection laws and opening the door for victims to …

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VERMONT: Christine Hallquist Becomes First-Ever Openly Transgender Nominee For Governor [VIDEO]

Via press release from the Democratic National Committee: “The DNC is proud to congratulate Christine Hallquist, Vermont’s Democratic nominee for governor and the country’s first-ever openly transgender nominee for governor, along with all of tonight’s Democratic nominees in the Green Mountain State. “Christine’s historic victory tonight is an inspiration to LGBTQ people everywhere, and we are excited to stand behind …

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School Cancels Classes After Parents Threaten Violence Against Trans Student: “A Sharp Knife Will Do The Trick”

Oklahoma City’s Fox affiliate reports: Several law enforcement agencies have stepped in after parents made threats to harm a 12-year-old Achille Public Schools student on social media last week. 12-year-old Achille Schools transgender student Maddie’s mother Brandy Rose says her family moved to Achille from Sherman when Maddie was in 5th grade. “She’s been living as female for years– she …

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Famed “No Obits” Headline Turns 20 Years Old

Twenty years ago today San Francisco’s Bay Area Reporter published its now-famous “No Obits” headline, marking the first time in many years that the paper had no AIDS-related deaths to report. The accompanying article’s author, Timothy Rodriques, who at the time had himself recently tested HIV+, reflects this week in the same paper: That the article had such an impact …

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REPORT: New York Yankees Planning Significant Events To Commemorate 50th Anniversary Of Stonewall Riots

Sports New York reports: According to major league sources, the Yankees have been quietly planning significant events for next season to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a seminal event in both the history of LGBTQ rights and New York City. While a Yankees spokesman said it was too early to confirm any specifics of the 2019 promotional …

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Costa Rica: Supreme Court Rules For Marriage Equality

The Associated Press reports: Costa Rica’s supreme court has given the country’s legislature 18 months to change the law to allow gay marriage. The court voted to make gay marriage legal, declaring that existing laws banning it were unconstitutional. Magistrate Fernando Castillo said in a news conference that the laws were inconsistent with an opinion issued in January by the …

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Cher Releases First Single From ABBA Covers Album

Rolling Stone reports: Cher has debuted “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight),” the first single off her forth ABBA cover album Dancing Queen. Produced by her longtime collaborator Mark Taylor — who was behind her massive hit “Believe” — the track sees the diva meshing her penchant for Nineties-esque house with plenty of faithfulness to the original material. She …

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CALIFORNIA: AIDS Healthcare Foundation Donates $10M To Dem-Backed Rent Control Ballot Measure

The San Jose Mercury-News reports: Amid a tense battle over rent control in California, real-estate interests are writing big checks to defeat a November ballot measure that would give cities more power to regulate what landlords can charge tenants — and the initiative’s backer responded this week with a $10 million cash infusion. “We know we will be significantly outspent …

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As You Are: Biden Foundation Launches Awareness Campaign For Acceptance Of LGBTQ Youth [VIDEO]

CBS News reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching an awareness campaign to promote the importance of family acceptance of LGBTQ youth. The vice president’s Biden Foundation kicked off the “As You Are” initiative on Tuesday with a video campaign, featuring Biden, pop singer Cyndi Lauper, former NFL player Wade Davis and numerous LGBTQ advocates and activists. “We’ll use …

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PENNSYLVANIA: Dem Gov. Tom Wolf Creates Nation’s First State Commission On LGBTQ Civil Rights [VIDEO]

Via press release: Governor Tom Wolf today will sign an executive order creating the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, the only one in the nation. “The creation of the commission on LGBTQ Affairs is one step of many we have taken to ensure obstacles are removed for anyone who is facing an unfair disadvantage based on sexual orientation, gender identity …

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Britney Spears Sparks Criticism With Pride Tweet

The Huffington Post UK reports: Britney Spears has raised eyebrows with her latest tweets, which has sparked accusations of “exploiting Pride” to sell her latest perfume. Over the weekend, Britney gave her first UK live performance in two years at Brighton Pride, where her show received huge praise from fans. However, shortly after the event, a tweet was posted on …

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IRELAND: Gay PM To Raise LGBT Rights With Pope

Irish Central reports: Irish leader Leo Varadkar will bring up same sex marriage to Pope Francis when he meets him in Ireland on August 25th saying that such marriages are the same as any conventional marriage and should be treated as such by the church. Varadkar is Ireland’s first gay leader. Questioned on what he would say to the Pope …

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RUSSIA: Police Arrest 25 LGBT Activists [VIDEO]

The BBC reports: Russian police have detained at least 25 LGBT rights activists during a protest in St Petersburg to promote the rights of sexual minorities. About 60 activists gathered at the main square in the city centre, despite a ban being placed on the rally. They held up placards and rainbow-coloured flags, and called for LGBT rights to be …

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Georgetown Gives Full-Ride Scholarship To Gay Teen

Well, here’s a very bright light at the end of the week: Seth Owen, a high school valedictorian from Florida whose parents ostracized him because of his sexuality, has reportedly been offered a full-ride scholarship to attend Georgetown University in the fall. Owen, who graduated from First Coast High School in Jacksonville with a 4.16 GPA, captured headlines late last …

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CALIFORNIA: Social Media Posts Spur Hate Crime Charge For Man Accused In Murder Of Gay Student

The Los Angeles Times reports: A 21-year-old Newport Beach man charged with murder in the stabbing death of former high school classmate Blaze Bernstein will also face a hate crime sentencing enhancement, the Orange County district attorney announced Thursday. Orange County District Atty. Tony Rackauckas said prosecutors added the hate crime enhancement based on allegations that Samuel Woodward killed 19-year-old …

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