LGBT News

Lexington’s NBC affiliate reports: The Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled a Lexington business was within its rights when it refused to print shirts for Lexington’s Gay Pride Festival. The owner of Hands on Originals argued that he refused to print the shirts for the 2012 festival because it was against his religious beliefs. Later, the Human Rights Commission ruled …

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who as Georgia governor once held a public prayer vigil for rain, has responded to Trump’s recent religious liberty executive order by issuing a letter authorizing USDA-inspected plants to post any anti-LGBT materials they like. Perdue’s edict likely arises from the case of the West Michigan Beef Company, whose CEO Don Vander Boon reacted to the …

Gallup reports: Americans continue to express an increasingly liberal outlook on what is morally acceptable, as their views on 10 of 19 moral issues that Gallup measures are the most left-leaning or permissive they have been to date. The percentages of U.S. adults who believe birth control, divorce, sex between unmarried people, gay or lesbian relations, having a baby outside …

CNN reports: The latest treatments for HIV mean that young people living with the virus could live up to a decade longer, a new study says. The paper, published Wednesday, found that 20-year-olds who started with antiretroviral therapy in 2010 are predicted to live up to 10 years longer than those who first underwent similar treatment in 1996 — when …

The BBC reports: Five gay rights activists have been detained in Moscow as they tried to deliver a petition to the office of Russia’s prosecutor general. Police said they were held because their action was unauthorised. The activists said more than two million people had signed the petition to investigate alleged torture and detentions of gay people in the Russian …

Via press release from Connecticut Equality: The Connecticut Senate voted unanimously today to pass HB 6695, AAC The Protection of Youth from Conversion Therapy 36-0, with bipartisan support. Sponsored by Senator Beth Bye and Representative Jeff Currey, the bill has 100 co-sponsors and was approved in the House by an overwhelming margin last week. “We are delighted with today’s vote, and grateful …

West Virginia’s MetroNews reports: In a 3-2 opinion issued Tuesday, the state Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that dismissed hate crime charges against former Marshall University football player Steward Butler. In arguments before the Court last month, Cabell County Assistant Prosecutor Lauren Plymale said Cabell County Circuit Judge Paul Farrell was wrong when he dismissed the charges …

The Texas Tribune reports: Faith-based adoption agencies in Texas would be able to reject prospective parents on religious grounds under a bill the state House preliminarily approved Tuesday over strong objections from Democratic lawmakers who said it would ultimately harm children and deny good people the right to care for them. Under House Bill 3859, which advanced on a 94-51 …

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports: Seattle Mayor Ed Murray won’t seek a second term in office, dropping his reelection bid as he faces allegations of sexual abuse from four men. Little more than a month after Murray was first publicly accused of paying a teen boy for sex in the 1980s, Murray said Tuesday morning that he will remain in office …

The Texas Tribune reports: A proposal to gut cities and school districts’ trans-inclusive bathroom policies did not advance in the House ahead of a crucial deadline, nixing the measure’s chances of getting a vote by the full chamber. But that doesn’t mean that the issue itself is dead. Up against bill-killing deadlines, the House State Affairs Committee on Monday did …

Mashable reports: It’s time to make America gay again. And Debra Messing’s acceptance speech for Excellence in Media at the 28th annual GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday may be the perfect place to start. Equal part hilarious and scathing, the actress, who recently signed on for the impending Will & Grace revival, didn’t mince words in her call to action. …

World Net Daily is ever so pissed: Despite the drastic financial blowback Target Corporation has been weathering since announcing its plan last year to allow men to enter women’s bathroom facilities, the retail giant is continuing full-speed ahead in its pursuit of LGBT social activism, all in the name of “inclusivity.” For the second year, Target is using a #TakePride …

The Japan Times reports: Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people paraded through Tokyo’s Shibuya district on Sunday to express hope that Japan will further embrace gender equality and diversity. The LGBT parade was the finale to the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival, and this year’s theme was “Change.” “I believed that nothing would change. But, little by little, …

Bermuda’s Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last week and the editorial board of the Royal Gazette can’t resist taking a poke at the haters. They write: At not long after lunchtime yesterday, a casual look outdoors revealed the sky was not falling; nor was it red. Upon further inspection, a saunter towards the coastlines revealed there was no tsunami hurtling …

People reports: Congratulations are in order for Moonlight — Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome won best kiss at the MTV Movie and TV Awards on Sunday. The two actors were up against a slew of other TV and movie stars, including La La Land‘s Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, Beauty and the Beast‘s Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, Empire‘s Taraji …

Deutsche Welle reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he supports an investigation into the reported torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya, days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed him on the issue. Putin said he would personally ask the chief prosecutor and the interior minister to cooperate with human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova in an investigation …

The Daily Beast reports: When the Today show’s Matt Lauer asked Ellen DeGeneres in a new interview if she would like to have President Donald Trump appear on her daytime talk show, she barely hesitated before saying, “Um, no.” That line got laughs and applause from her own studio audience, which stuck around to see Lauer interview DeGeneres after he …

Last June, Bermudan voters overwhelmingly rejected same-sex marriage by a 2-1 margin in a non-binding public referendum. The opposition had been rallied with the support of US hate groups including the Alliance Defending Freedom, which provided materials featuring quotes from anti-LGBT activists Ryan T. Anderson and Mark Regnerus. Which brings us to today. From the Royal Gazette: A gay couple …

Clip recap: Despite rumors, the long-feared “license to discriminate” order failed to materialize this week — but Trump DID sign an order that could be used to attack LGBT Americans. And Congress voted to replace Obamacare with a system that could put health care out of reach for a lot of queer people. Also gay man in Mississippi says a …

The Hill reports: Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez blasted the Republican effort to repeal ObamaCare ahead of the House vote on Thursday, saying President Trump and Republicans “will own every preventable death” as a result. “Trump and Republicans will own every preventable death, every untreated illness and every bankruptcy that American families will be forced to bear if this …