LGBT News

The New York Daily News reports: Paging Steve Harvey. “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture at the Oscars Sunday night instead of “Moonlight,” the rightful winner. In one of the most controversial categories of the night, Warren Beatty announced the Emma Stone-helmed flick as the Best Picture. The cast crowded onto the stage for their acceptance …

The Daily Mail reports: Ex-NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart is suing the male viral video star who claimed they had a sexual relationship for $4.5 million, DailyMail.com can reveal. The man in question, Andrew Caldwell, became famous for another video, in which he screamed in church: ‘I’m not gay no more’. In October 2015, Caldwell went on a radio show and …

Ben Winslow reports for Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: A bill that requires someone to disclose their HIV or AIDS status before engaging in any sexual activity or face a criminal penalty has passed a House Committee. Rep. Justin Fawson’s House Bill 369 passed out of committee Friday morning over objections from the ranking Democrat on the committee and an …

CNN reports: Lawyers for Gavin Grimm, a transgender teen who is barred from using the boys’ bathroom at his Virginia high school, told the Supreme Court Thursday that his challenge to the school board policy should go forward, arguing that the restrooms “must be equally available to all boys and all girls, including boys and girls who are transgender.” The …

Reuters reports: Slovenia permitted same-sex marriages for the first time from Friday under a law giving gay couples largely the same rights as heterosexuals though barring them from jointly adopting children. The head of the unit in charge of weddings in Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor, Ksenija Klampfer, told Reuters the first lesbian wedding would take place there on Saturday. …

The Washington Post reports: As both a transgender person and a longtime Republican, Caitlyn Jenner felt compelled to speak out on the Trump administration’s decision Wednesday to revoke federal guidelines specifying that transgender students had the right to use public school restrooms that matched their gender identity. In a video posted to social media Thursday, the former Olympic decathlon champion …

What Culture reports: After it made its debut alongside FX’s Legion, the brand new Alien: Covenant prologue has been released, introducing the crew of the Covenant spaceship and establishing a tone very much in keeping with the original Alien. You can already see the dynamics at play in the short clip: James Franco’s captain is the dependable straight-laced guy, Katherine …

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: Candice Wiggins had what many would consider a dream career in the WNBA. She was the No. 3 overall draft pick out of Stanford in 2008. She was named the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year as a rookie. She won a championship with the Minnesota Lynx. The success, Wiggins says now, hid a darker …

The Washington Post reports: Citing his First Amendment rights and religious protections under the Civil Rights Act, a Social Security Administration judge in Texas who refused to watch an LGBT diversity training video is suing his superiors to avoid being fired, saying he was subject to a “religiously hostile work environment.” Judge Gary Suttles said in a complaint filed Thursday …

Vulture reports: Cate Blanchett took the stage at a benefit performance at the Stonewall Inn Monday night to lip-sync for her life, and claim several others in the process. According to a few clips that have made their way onto the internet, and which will serve as valuable commodities in any post-apocalypse gay black market, Blanchett lip-synced Dusty Springfield’s “You …

Billboard Magazine reports: Leave it to Grace Slick to make an activist statement by saying “yes” to use of Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” in an ad for fast food chain Chick-fil-A. The co-founder of Starship’s predecessor, 1960s psychedelic group Jefferson Airplane, Slick has penned an op-ed explaining her decision to authorize a license of the 1987 hit to …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Despite pleas from parents of transgender children and LGBT employees, the Trump administration is set Tuesday to rescind Obama-era guidance to schools barring discrimination against transgender students and ensuring they have access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity. Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the …

NPR Tulsa reports: An Oklahoma senate panel approved a bill Monday to prevent city and county governments from outdoing state laws on employment and public accommodations. The bill initially prevented local governments from going further than any state law. A committee substitute focused it on employment and public accommodations laws. Senate Bill 694 author Sen. Joshua Brecheen [photo] sparred with …

The Austin Statesman reports: A web-based ad, shot by Austin film director Richard Linklater, uses humor to attack arguments that the transgender bathroom bill is needed to protect privacy. The digital ad, which will appear in targeted buys on Facebook, includes a diverse cast — including two transgender Texans — to argue that Senate Bill 6 is about discrimination, not …

Via press release: Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality Virginia blasted the Virginia House of Representative’s final vote of 54 to 38 passing House Bill (HB) 2025 — discriminatory legislation seeking to give taxpayer-funded agencies and service providers a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people under the guise of religion. The dangerous anti-LGBTQ proposal now heads to Governor …

PBS reports: State legalization of same-sex marriage appears to be linked to a decrease in adolescent suicide, based on a new analysis published today in JAMA Pediatrics. The results give more context to the potential effects of social policy on mental health. The researchers found that suicide attempts by high school students decreased by 7 percent in states after they …

Deutsche Welle reports: Tanzania announced plans on Saturday to publish a list of gay people allegedly selling sex online. This comes just days after the government shut down dozens of AIDS clinics accused of promoting homosexuality. Deputy health minister, Hamisi Kigwangalla [photo], wrote on Twitter that his government was investigating “the homosexuality syndicate” and would arrest and prosecute those involved …

Finland’s national broadcaster reports: Finnish MPs defeated a bill to strike down same-sex marriage on February 17. Opposition to the proposal was strong, as 120 parliamentarians voted against it, with 48 in support. Two members of parliament voted absent and 29 MPs did not cast a vote. A Finnish movement called Aito avioliitto (True Marriage) that seeks to uphold marriage …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A 22-year St. Louis County police veteran who was once picked to become the department’s liaison to the gay community is now suing the department for discrimination. In a lawsuit filed Jan. 10, Sgt. Keith Wildhaber claims a former St. Louis County Police Board member told him to “tone down your gayness” if he ever …

Michigan Live reports: A judge dismissed Jenison Bible Church’s lawsuit against a gay man who displayed a sign implying the church supported same-sex marriage. Daniel VanderLey asked area churches to take a public stand against Bradlee Dean, an advocate for traditional marriage, who was speaking at a “God and Country” event at Jenison Center for the Arts. VanderLey, who contended …