LGBT News

USA Today reports: The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit Wednesday against the state of Michigan challenging a law that allows adoption agencies to spurn potential LGBT parents under the guise of religion. Religious exemption laws let people, churches and sometimes corporations cite religious beliefs as a reason not to enforce a law — such as declining to marry a …

CNN’s K-File team reports: In a pair of 2015 speeches, President Donald Trump’s nominee for a federal judgeship in Texas described transgender children as evidence of “Satan’s plan,” lamented that states were banning conversion therapy and argued that sanctioning same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and bestiality. Jeff Mateer, the current first assistant attorney general of Texas, was serving at …

The Guardian reports: A Brazilian judge has approved gay “conversion therapy” in a ruling which prompted widespread outrage and raised fears of a conservative backlash. Waldemar de Carvalho, a federal judge in the capital of Brasília, overruled a 1999 decision by the Federal Council of Psychology that forbade psychologists from offering widely discredited treatments which claims to “cure” gay people. …

Via press release: The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) won the Arizona Supreme Court case, McLaughlin v. McLaughlin, which ruled that a woman was the legal parent of the child she and her same-sex spouse conceived through assisted reproduction during their marriage. As the Arizona Supreme Court recognized, the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Obergefell v. Hodges and Pavan …

Many JMG readers have written me over the last week, hoping for some inside scoop on the status of Key West’s Island House and the other popular gay guesthouses that are their Old Town neighbors. Today, we actually have some positive hurricane-related news. Via press release: Feeling humbled by our good luck, we’re happy to announce that the Island House, …

Rolling Stone reports: Showtime has shared the first trailer for their upcoming documentary George Michael: Freedom. The late singer himself provided narration for the film, which serves as his final work. Through unseen archival and private home footage, as well as Michael’s own anecdotes, the documentary focuses on Michael’s entire career but especially the height of his fame leading up …

Gay Star News reports: Skywriting appeared over Sydney today to encourage Australians to ‘Vote No’ to marriage equality. Australians are currently voting in a expensive and divisive postal vote on same-sex marriage. They have until 27 October to post their votes back, with results announced 15 November. But the ‘No’ campaign ramped up their attempts to sway people against same-sex …

The Associated Press reports: Serbia’s first-ever openly gay prime minister joined several hundred gay activists Sunday at a gay pride march that was held amid tight security in the conservative Balkan country. Holding rainbow flags, balloons and a banner reading “For change,” pride participants gathered in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, before setting off on a march through the city. Many …

The Houston Chronicle reports: The City of Houston and Mayor Sylvester Turner filed a petition Friday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that came down earlier this summer, concluding that states did not have to provide publicly funded benefits to same-sex couples, according to a news release from the city. The decision in Pidgeon v. Parker from …

The Associated Press reports: New guidance released Friday by the Pentagon makes it clear that any transgender troops currently in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, even as the department debates how broadly to enforce a ban on their service ordered by President Donald Trump. In a memo to top military leaders, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said …

TMZ reports: Rosie O’Donnell’s ex-wife, Michelle Rounds, was found dead in her home Monday of an apparent suicide, sources tell TMZ. Rosie tells TMZ, “I am saddened to hear about this terrible tragedy. Mental illness is a very serious issue affecting many families. My thoughts and prayers go out to Michelle’s family, her wife and their child.” Rosie and Michelle …

The Palm Beach Post reports: After 25 years in Key West, Jim Gilleran knows residents need a cold beer, a hot meal and a place to reconnect after a hurricane. While most bars and restaurants remain shuttered on Duval Street, Gilleran opened his 801 Bar hours after Hurricane Irma smashed past the island. He’s kept his generator operating since, serving …

From the ACLU’s blog: Today we are filing a motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to put an immediate stop to the President’s ban to ensure that the harms to our clients and the thousands of other transgender individuals serving our country are rectified immediately. Individuals like our client Staff Sgt. Kate Cole should not have to worry …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: Nearly all of the Utah State Senate has signed on in support of a Colorado shop who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah [photo], …

From the Facebook page of Nicholas County Democrats: On Tuesday morning, September 5th, 2017, an openly gay student from Clay County High School in Clay, West Virginia, boarded the school bus of part-time driver, Robert Belt, and sat down beside another student. Allegedly, Robert Belt, also a full-time Clay County Sheriff Deputy, dressed in full uniform, announced over the bus …

The Guardian reports: A robocall asking Australians their opinion about the same-sex marriage postal survey has suggested that marriage equality may lead to “radical gay sex education” and threats to freedom of speech and religion. The poll, which was first reported by social media users on Tuesday night, stated that it was conducted by the Republican-linked American pollster WPA Intelligence. …

Last night the Birmingham News, Alabama’s largest newspaper, posted a blistering video attack on Roy Moore which compares him to notorious racist George Wallace and ticks off some of Moore’s nastiest attacks on LGBT Americans. The video’s narrator, columnist Kyle Whitmire, flatly declares, “Roy Moore hates gay people and it’s worth taking a moment to see how much.” Whitmire then …

Reuters reports: The alarming volume of hate-speech during Australia’s ballot over whether to legalize same-sex marriage spurred parliament to pass emergency legislation on Wednesday to outlaw opponents spewing their vitriol while the vote was in progress. Australia began a non-compulsory postal vote on Tuesday that will determine whether it becomes the 25th country to legalize same-sex marriage. But with an …

Posted tonight to President Obama’s Facebook page: America’s long journey towards equality has been guided by countless small acts of persistence, and fueled by the stubborn willingness of quiet heroes to speak out for what’s right. Few were as small in stature as Edie Windsor – and few made as big a difference to America. I had the privilege to …

From the ACLU: Today, we lost one of this country’s great civil rights pioneers, Edie Windsor. The wheels of progress turn forward because of people like Edie who are willing to stand up in the face of injustice. One simply cannot write the history of the gay rights movement without reserving immense credit and gratitude for Edie Windsor. We were …