LGBT News

Earlier today the North Carolina Senate voted 32-16 for a “compromise” repeal of HB2 that has angered both LGBT activists and hate groups. The Charlotte Observer is now live-streaming the debate in the state House on their Facebook page. Watch it here. UPDATE: More from the Observer. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement overnight that he supported the …

The Associated Press reports: A watered-down version of a bill that took aim at Tennessee’s recognition of gay marriages is dead for the year. The House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted Wednesday to stop considering the bill by Republican Rep. Mark Pody of Lebanon until next year. The bill would have required the state attorney general to defend county or city …

The Associated Press reports: An Arkansas lawmaker dropped her proposal Wednesday prohibiting individuals from using bathrooms in government buildings that do not match their gender at birth after the legislation had faced opposition from the state’s Republican governor and tourism groups. GOP Sen. Linda Collins-Smith withdrew her proposal, which would have required every restroom or changing facility accessible by multiple …

ABC News reports: A controversial compromise bill that would replace HB2 has cleared its second hurdle and is now on its way to the North Carolina House. HB142 passed its second reading in the Senate 32 to 16, meanwhile, it remains unclear if the compromise bill will pass in the House. “This law does not repeal HB2, it doubles down …

Duncan Osborne reports at Gay City News: The organization that produces New York City’s pride parade, rally, and related events has agreed to allow groups eager to confront the Republican Party’s control of the federal government near the front of the June 25 pride parade. “I’m extremely proud of the people who came out to raise their voices about this, …

The Charlotte Observer reports: North Carolina lawmakers could repeal House Bill 2 on Thursday under a deal struck late Wednesday night by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders. Senate leader Phil Berger announced the deal shortly after 10:30 p.m. The announcement capped days of marathon, often contentious negotiations and closed-door meetings. Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore took …

The Austin Statesman reports: Flexing his parliamentary muscle and flashing his antipathy to efforts to regulate the use of bathrooms by transgender people, House Speaker Joe Straus prevented amendments on the matter from reaching the House floor on Tuesday. In a showdown with his most socially conservative members, Speaker Joe Straus ended debate on a bill about the fate of …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed cutting $1.23 billion this fiscal year from research funded by the National Institutes of Health, according to a White House document sent to congressional appropriators. The reduction is part of $18 billion in cuts that the administration wants in fiscal 2017, which ends in October. Most of the proposed reductions at NIH …

The New York Daily News reports: Port Authority cops have become bathroom police, according to a lawsuit filed Monday that accuses the department of targeting gay men for bogus lewdness charges. Plainclothes officers pretend to use the Port Authority Bus Terminal urinals while staring at suspects over the small privacy dividers, said the suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court. The …

Montana Public Radio reports: A Montana legislative panel has rejected a bill that called for a statewide vote on whether to bar transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that don’t match their gender at birth. The House Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 against the bill today. It is likely dead, though it could be revived if enough votes flip …

The Associated Press reports: Officials in Columbus have voted to ban conversion therapy in the city. The Columbus City Council voted to ban the practice in a meeting Monday night. Conversion therapy is any practice that seeks to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Professionals in the medical community say the practice is illegitimate and does not work. LGBTQ …

Back in January, I reported that an anti-LGBT Christian group has filed a ballot measure to gut Anchorage’s LGBT right ordinance, which was finally approved in 2014 after years of viciously fought battles. In that post I noted that two openly gay men, including longtime JMG participant Christopher Constant, are now running for the Anchorage Assembly (the city council). Alaska …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: A court has allowed a four-year-old girl to be adopted by a same-sex couple despite her birth parents’ opposition on the basis of their Catholic faith. The girl was taken from her birth mother at four days old due to the mother’s long history of drug use and conviction for the manslaughter of her infant …

The Associated Press reports: Despite Republican assurances that North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” isn’t hurting the economy, the law limiting LGBT protections will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years, according to an Associated Press analysis. Over the past year, North Carolina has suffered financial hits ranging from scuttled plans for a PayPal facility …

Orlando’s ABC affiliate reports: A lawsuit filed by the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre and their families against the gunman’s wife and employer is in jeopardy of being dismissed in federal court. Federal Judge Kenneth A. Marra filed the order questioning if the federal court system had jurisdiction in the case, determining that as presented it did not. The …

NBC News reports: A clinic that was accused of pushing bogus “pray away the gay” therapy — and is owned by former Rep. Michele Bachmann’s husband — was cited by Minnesota health inspectors for failing to properly keep patient records. Inspectors going through the paperwork at the Counseling Care clinic in Lake Elmo found last month that “developmental condition” and …

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga fired a reporter this week at WUTC, the National Public Radio affiliate, after local lawmakers complained about how she reported on the transgender bathroom bill. Jacqui Helbert, 32, reported and produced the story for WUTC, which followed a group of Cleveland High School students as they traveled to …

Holy cow. For once some good news out of Oklahoma: Twenty-five Oklahoma State Senators took a historic stand against anti-LGBTQ discrimination today. SB 694 and SB 197 were both called onto the senate floor for a vote. The former would have stripped employment and public accommodation protections form municipalities around the state, the later was a North Carolina “license to …

CBC Miami reports: Gay marriage has been a hot topic in and out of courtrooms for the past several years. Another issue is being fixed to help those who lost loved ones before the epic court ruling. Florida widows and widowers whose spouses died before the U.S. Supreme Court declared state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional can have the death …

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch yesterday completed his third and final day of questions from the Senate. Today we’ll hear from several panels of “outside witnesses” who either support or oppose his confirmation. In his defense we’ll hear from former judicial colleagues, law clerks, and law school professors. Among those testifying in opposition will be the Human Rights Campaign, the …