LGBT News

THIS was expected. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A day after an LGBT employee group at the Justice Department announced plans to honor lawyers and a student seeking to advance transgender rights at a pride month program next week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke positively to staff Thursday about the upcoming event. “We are going to have a pride group, …

The Associated Press reports: Minneapolis’ first openly gay police chief responded sharply Thursday to a decision by organizers of the Twin Cities Pride Parade to ask her department to minimize its participation in Sunday’s annual event due to tensions over the police shooting of Philando Castile. They said in a statement that they’re trying to respect the pain that many …

Gallup reports: Two years after the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that states could not prohibit same-sex marriages, 10.2% of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) adults in the U.S. are married to a same-sex spouse. That is up from 7.9% in the months prior to the Supreme Court decision in 2015, but only marginally higher than the …

Chicago Pride is this weekend and as seen in a photo tweeted late Tuesday by a local NBC reporter, that night the entrance to Trump International Hotel & Tower was illuminated in the rainbow colors. I couldn’t find any news accounts of this, so early yesterday morning I called the hotel to inquire. The cheerful staffer I was directed to …

Sports Illustrated reports: Capitol Police special agent Crystal Griner threw out the first pitch at the Congressional Women’s Softball Game just days after being injured in a shooting at the GOP’s baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. Griner has been recovering from a gunshot wound that struck her in the ankle. She was in a wheelchair before the game on Wednesday …

Last night longtime JMG photographer Dr. Jeff Smith and I headed to downtown Manhattan’s swanky Capitale to work the red carpet at the inaugural Village Voice Pride Awards, where emcee Alan Cumming feted the cast of Sense8, Edie Windsor, pop duo Tegan & Sara, Bob The Drag Queen, Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano, transgender youth activist Gavin Grimm, designer …

Oklahoma City’s CBS affiliate reports: A school district at the center of one of America’s most conservative states plans to join a gay pride celebration this weekend. According to OKCPride.org, the annual festival represents the unity between the LGBTQ community and its supporters. For the first time, Oklahoma City Public Schools will be involved in the festival. OKCPS plans to …

The Associated Press reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden, warning of transgender Americans “under attack” in Republican-led states, on Wednesday challenged the nation’s LGBT community to push back against President Donald Trump’s administration. “Hold President Trump accountable for his pledge to be your friend,” Biden declared at a private LGBT gala hosted by the Democratic National Committee in New York. …

The Associated Press reports: New York’s highest court has a new member. The state Senate on Wednesday confirmed Paul Feinman to serve on the Court of Appeals. He will be the first openly gay person to serve on the court. Feinman has been a judge for more than 20 years. He fills a vacancy created by the death of Judge …

Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reports: The Alperen Hearths, an ultra-nationalist youth organization linked to right-wing nationalist Great Union Party (BBP), has threatened the LGBT Pride March set to take place on June 25 in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, vowing to prevent the march from taking place. “If the state allows it, we will not. We will not allow them to walk. …

The Associated Press reports: Germany’s highest court has rejected an opposition party’s attempt to force a parliamentary vote on introducing gay marriage before September’s national election. The opposition Greens and Left Party, as well as parliament’s upper house, have proposed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. The governing coalition is divided on the issue and the lower house’s legal affairs committee has …

Gay Star News reports: Queen Elizabeth II has vowed the UK will protect people based on sexual orientation. The Conservative party, in an attempt to claw back after their failed bid to win a bigger majority in the UK election, has agreed to work with the homophobic DUP from Northern Ireland. Written by the Government, the Queen’s Speech was heard …

The New York Daily News reports: Former Patriots and Chiefs offensive tackle Ryan O’Callaghan publicly came out on Tuesday, saying that he strongly considered committing suicide before he received support from the Kansas City organization. O’Callaghan discusssed the gripping, heart-wrenching journey he took as a closeted gay man in college football and the NFL in a piece by SB Nation’s …

Via press release from HBO: VICE News has obtained exclusive access to Argun Prison in Chechnya where it is alleged that gay men were rounded up and tortured as part of an unprecedented ‘anti-gay purge’ by Chechnya’s law enforcement. VICE News is the first international news organization to be allowed into the location, capturing images and footage from the now …

The clips may not be work-friendly. Playbill reports: Broadway Bares: Strip U, the 27th edition of the annual burlesque-style fundraiser in New York, earned $1,568,114, a jump from last year’s $1,482,724 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, but slightly down from 2015’s record-breaking total of $1,598,501. Attendees watched 181 of the hottest male and female dancers in New York City—joined by …

The Guardian reports: A Russian law that bans gay “propaganda” encourages homophobia and discrimination, the European court of human rights has ruled, in a sharply worded rebuke to the Kremlin. Three Russian gay rights activists brought the case against the 2013 federal statute, widely known as the “gay propaganda” law, after they were arrested between 2009-12 for protesting against local …

The New York Daily News reports: Conversion therapy that aims to turn gay people straight would be banned in New York under a new bill in the City Council. The proposal — sponsored by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and being fast-tracked to a hearing Monday — would make it illegal for anyone to charge a fee to perform therapy to …

The Texas Tribune reports: The “bathroom bill” that preoccupied the Texas Legislature for the first half of the year is important to only 44 percent of the state’s voters — and “very important” to only 26 percent, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. During the regular session, lawmakers considered but did not pass legislation that would regulate …

The Associated Press reports: Revelers gathered in Sao Paulo on Sunday for one of the world’s largest gay pride parades with this year’s event focusing on the threat of religious fundamentalism to Brazil’s LGBT community. Under a giant rainbow-colored flag, revelers of all ages, many wearing bright wigs, turned the city’s Paulista avenue into a multicolored sea of people filling …

Reuters reports: Germany’s Greens are open to working with any party except the right-wing Alternative for Germany after a September vote but will list gay marriage as a condition, which could make it tricky to work with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives. The Greens, which also named climate protection as their price for participating in government, could be a kingmaker in …