LGBT News

Seeker reports: Gay conversion therapy aims to turn gay, lesbian or transgender individuals into heterosexuals. Patients are predominantly minors or young adults and many are forced or pressured into it. Just this month, the tiny island of Malta became the first European nation to outlaw gay conversion therapy. Evidence increasingly shows that it can cause serious medical and psychological harm, …

Erasing 76 Crimes reports: The parliament in the north-central African country of Chad has adopted a new penal code that makes homosexual activity a crime. By this blog’s count, that action, assuming that it is not blocked by the country’s president, increases to 77 the number of countries with anti-homosexuality laws. Chad’s new law provides for violators to be fined …

The Associated Press reports: The Pittsburgh City Council has unanimously voted to ban mental health professionals in the city from using on minors a therapy that attempts to change sexual orientation or how people identify their gender. City spokesman Timothy McNulty tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Mayor Bill Peduto plans to sign the legislation. Numerous medical and psychiatric groups oppose …

Raw Story reports: A new commercial from Denmark contains a heartwarming message for the holidays about acceptance and the power of familiar love. HelloGiggles.com said that the ad is for electronics company Elgiganten and is called “Let the gifts speak.” It begins with a family at Christmas opening presents. One member of the family, a teenaged trans daughter looks uncomfortable …

The Jerusalem Post reports: The first center in Israel dedicated to handling legal issues regarding hate and incitement on the Internet as well as a general struggle against hate and racism opened its doors on Wednesday with a conference on tolerance. The center, hosted by IDC’s Radzyner Law School in Herzliya and in cooperation with the Berel Katznelson Fund, will …

From the Indianapolis Star: Gay bars are going out of business fast. Since 2015 at least five have closed their doors in Indianapolis, about half the city’s total. Among the casualties: the venerable Varsity, the city’s oldest gay bar, dating back to the 1940s. In the past six months Talbott Street, long-known for its drag shows, closed, as did the …

Yahoo News reports: The UN Security Council on Wednesday dropped advancing gay rights from a tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after Russia raised objections, diplomats said. A draft statement that mentioned Ban’s support for the LGBT community was changed to note instead that “the most vulnerable or marginalized have been increasingly heard and assisted” under his leadership. Ban, the 72-year-old …

The Washington Blade reports: Organizers of a newly launched D.C.-based organization aimed at stopping so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBT minors throughout the country announced on Monday they will work with activists and lawmakers in 45 states to advocate for bills to ban the practice. The organization, called 50 Bills 50 States, will operate as an all-volunteer group. It has already …

The New York Times reports: The San Francisco Symphony announced on Monday that it had canceled a pair of April concerts in North Carolina to protest the new state law curbing anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The orchestra joins a growing list of luminaries who have shunned the state: rockers such as Bruce Springsteen and Ringo …

The Associated Press reports: A judge has thrown out an executive order issued by Louisiana’s governor that was aimed at protecting the rights of LGBT people in state government. Judge Todd Hernandez ruled Wednesday that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ anti-discrimination order is unconstitutional. The order prohibited discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity. …

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: A lawyer for Lexington-based Hands on Originals told a three-judge panel of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Tuesday his client objected to the message on a 2012 Lexington Pride Festival T-shirt but does not discriminate against gays or same-sex couples. Jim Campbell, a lawyer with the nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, said Blaine Adamson, the owner of …

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: A federal jury on Tuesday rejected a claim that five San Diego police officers discriminated against a scantily clad man in a gladiator costume at a gay pride festival in Balboa Park. The verdict from eight jurors in the civil-rights lawsuit filed by Will X. Walters came after two hours of deliberation. Walters, who was …

Hello Magazine reports: Kylie Minogue was brought to tears on stage at the Royal Albert Hall by the strength of her audience’s reaction as she brought Christmas to London’s iconic auditorium with the help of a few of her famous friends. The Australian performer delighted fans with a stunningly theatrical two-hour performance which included lavish stage costumes, a full orchestra, …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: Sen. Mike Lee of Utah will reintroduce a bill next year to protect people and corporations that hold a religious objection to same-sex marriage, a spokesman for his office told BuzzFeed News, adding that the political climate amid Donald Trump’s presidency will give the legislation a better shot at advancing than it had the past …

People reports: Jake Conrad took the Bull by the horns and went all out for his proposal to boyfriend Michael Holtzman at a Chicago Bulls game on Thursday night. In the three days since the NBA team shared the video of Conrad popping the question, the tear-jerking proposal has racked up nearly 800,000 views. The video, posted to the Bulls’ …

Radio Free Europe reports: Kyrgyz election officials said voters have overwhelmingly backed amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage and shift some presidential powers to the prime minister. The two questions were among a package of 26 proposed amendments that voters in the mostly Muslim former Soviet republic were being asked to approve with a simple “yes-or-no” vote on December …

The Belfast Telegraph reports: The Northern Ireland public would vote overwhelmingly in favour of same-sex marriage, the latest Lucid Talk tracker poll has found. The Northern Ireland polling company runs regular online tracker polls on topical issues to register changes, trends and opinions. For a period of 60 hours between November 30 and December 2, 1,536 people responded to the …

Activist Matt Baume takes a look at the FDA’s recently amended ban on blood donations from gay men and what may come once notoriously anti-gay Tom Price takes over the agency. From the clip description: “Back in the 80s, when the ban was created, it was a best-guess effort to keep blood donations safe since there hadn’t been much research …

Tulsa World reports: While a tribal court recently avoided ruling on the issue, the Cherokee Nation will begin recognizing same-sex marriages under an opinion issued Friday by the tribe’s attorney general, who noted that Cherokees practiced something similar to gay marriage in past centuries. While agreeing that the tribe, as a sovereign nation itself, was not bound by the 2015 …

You’ll want to watch the clip below. From Broadway Cares: Broadway’s best spread messages of unity, hope and resilience through satire, song and dance December 5 and 6, 2016, at the 28th annual Gypsy of the Year competition. Gypsy of the Year , which celebrated six weeks of dedicated fundraising from 55 Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies, raised $4,492,636 …