LGBT News

Russell Jones, recently of the New York Philharmonic, has been named president of the Stamford Symphony and would like to offer a special deal to his fellow JMG readers. Brahms, Copland, and Saint-Saens at a special pricing for JoeMyGod followers: Saturday, February 24th at 8pm & Sunday, February 25th at 3pm. Do not miss the mesmerizing and alluring sounds of …

From the clip description: A controversial decision came from a court in Kern County, California that ruled in favor of a bakery that refused to make a cake for a same sex wedding because the owner said it would violate her Christian faith. This isn’t the first instance of a bakery refusing to make a cake for a same sex …

Talking Points Memo reports: Fox News has removed a controversial column penned by executive editor John Moody about diversity in the Olympics because it did not go through the “proper vetting process,” a Fox News insider told TPM Friday. The column, titled “Darker, Gayer, Different,” slammed the U.S. Olympics for its efforts to attract a diverse group of athletes for …

The Denver Post reports: Republican members of a powerful budget committee in the legislature on Thursday voted to withhold funding for the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a move that could be revisited but which quickly stoked political outcry from Democrats and the LGBT community. State Sen. Kevin Lundberg, a Berthoud Republican who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, which held …

People Magazine reports: Figure skater Adam Rippon and skier Gus Kenworthy made history on Friday as the two first openly gay U.S. athletes to qualify for the Winter Olympics. And the significance of marching with the massive Team USA at the opening ceremony in PyeongChang isn’t lost on the Olympians. The pals shared several Twitter shots of themselves at the …

The Toronto Sun reports: Toronto police have now recovered the remains of six individuals in an investigation into what they have described as the work of a serial killer. Bruce McArthur, 66, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the disappearances of Andrew Kinsman, Selim Esen, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick. Speaking Thursday at a …

USA Today reports: Vice President Pence on Thursday took to social media to criticize a USA TODAY Sports report as “#FAKENEWS” that U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon rebuffed a request that his office set up a conversation between the two men. At about the same time as Pence took to Twitter, a White House official was explaining to reporters …

The West Australian reports: He’s the man who strongly opposed gay marriage, arguing it was against traditional family values. Now it’s been revealed Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is expecting a baby with his former staff member, after leaving his wife of 24 years. Mr Joyce’s former wife, Natalie, said she was “deeply saddened” by the affair given her husband’s …

USA Today reports: Mike Pence was so concerned about the criticism he received from U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon that his staff went to the extraordinary length of asking the U.S. Olympic Committee to set up a conversation between the two – an offer Rippon turned down. According to two people with knowledge of the situation who were not …

Andy Humm reports at Gay City News: A brief cell-phone video captures a harrowing September 27, 2017 assault on gay student Abel Cedeno in his Bronx high school class by Matthew McCree, joined by his friend Ariane Laboy, as Cedeno defends himself with a knife, fatally wounding McCree and slashing Laboy. McCree, in a white T-shirt, can be seen charging …

The Bakersfield Californian reports: Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe has ruled that owner Cathy Miller can continue to refuse to make wedding cakes for same sex couples. “The State cannot succeed on the facts presented as a matter of law. The right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment outweighs the State’s interest in ensuring a freely …

The Hill reports: Freeskier Gus Kenworthy, one of the first two openly gay male athletes to represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics, told Ellen Degeneres that he things Vice President Mike Pence is a “bad fit” to lead the U.S. delegation to Pyeongchang, South Korea this month. Kenworthy’s comments echoed those of figure skater Adam Rippon, who has harshly …

Cyd Zeigler reports at Outsports: In cities around the world, bars bearing the name “Eagle” are gay — and usually gay leather — bars. New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Dallas, and many other cities have local dives bearing the name “Eagle.” One city that doesn’t have one? Philadelphia. There, The Bike Stop has been the big gay leather bar …

The Associated Press reports: An international court ruling saying Costa Rica should allow same-sex marriage has upended the Central American nation’s presidential race, turning an evangelical candidate who opposes it from an also-ran with just 2 percent in the polls into the leading contender in Sunday’s vote. Following last month’s decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Fabricio Alvarado, …

The Associated Press reports: The Republican National Committee is siding with President Donald Trump on his order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. In a resolution passed at its annual winter meeting Friday, the committee voted to support Trump’s August demand that military recruitment policy consider transgender as “a disqualifying psychological and physical” condition Trump’s order …

The New York Daily News reports: Coachella co-owner Philip Anschutz has once again come under scrutiny for bankrolling right-wing, anti-LGBTQ organizations at odds with the progressively minded music festival. A new tax filing shows The Anschutz Foundation donated at least $325,000 between Dec. 2015 and Nov. 2016 to organizations with an explicit anti-LGBTQ mission, which was first reported by Pitchfork. …

The Associated Press reports: Riding a tsunami of moral conservatism and anti-gay prejudice, Indonesia’s Islamic political parties appear on the cusp of a major victory: outlawing all sex outside marriage. Revisions to Indonesia’s criminal code being considered by Parliament would allow prison sentences of up to five years for sex between unmarried people. Those changes would also criminalize gay sex, …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The sun has quietly set on the Gangway, San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating gay bar. Bookending an ownership saga that started two years ago, the transfer of the bar’s liquor license became final on Friday, according to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. On Sunday, the historic establishment hosted its final night of revelry. …

The Toronto Star reports: Toronto police have announced three additional counts of first-degree murder have been laid against Bruce McArthur. Detective Sgt. Hank Idsinga told reporters Monday that McArthur is being charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Marmudi and Dean Lisowick. Lisowick was never reported missing to police. Investigators …

Boston’s ABC affiliate reports: A Massachusetts native and soldier will be among those closely watching President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday. Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, who is transgender, has been deployed to Afghanistan three times. Last year, the president announced plans to keep transgender individuals out of the military. “I thought to myself, ‘What am I …