LGBT News

BOOM. From the editorial board of the New York Times: Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina has some nerve. Alarmed by the rising financial fallout from the discriminatory law he and Republican lawmakers hastily passed in March to bar transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity, the governor seemed desperate for an off-ramp last week. On Friday, …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by three couples who challenged North Carolina’s law that allows magistrates to refuse to marry same-sex couples by citing religious beliefs. U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn ruled that the couples lacked legal standing as taxpayers to sue and lacked evidence showing they were harmed directly by the law …

Public Policy Polling reports: For the first time this entire cycle PPP finds a clear leader in the race to be North Carolina’s next Governor: Roy Cooper. Cooper’s at 46% to 41% for Pat McCrory, with Libertarian Lon Cecil at 2%. When undecideds and Cecil voters are asked who they’d pick if they had to choose between Cooper and McCrory, …

The corporate owners of the popular lesbian pop culture site AfterEllen are pulling the plug after 14 years. Editor-in-chief Trish Bendix eulogizes the site for the Advocate: Here are the facts: Evolve Media purchased AfterEllen from Viacom two years ago. They gave us two fiscal years to become their LGBT property and profit in that space, and they found we are …

Via press release from the Democratic National Committee: “In the five years since Congress repealed the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, we’ve made great strides in expanding and protecting the rights of the LGBT community in the United States, but we still have further to go. More than 13,000 service members were discharged under DADT, denying those men and …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: The legal advocacy group that represented several couples in a lawsuit against Kim Davis — the county clerk in Kentucky who famously refused to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court struck down bans on same-sex marriage — is asking a federal court to award it $233,058 to cover legal expenses. In court documents filed …

Charlotte’s CBS affiliate reports: Monday morning the North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement from Party Chairman Robin Hayes saying Cooper and Roberts “again scuttled a compromise deal.” “Roy Cooper’s silence on the Charlotte bathroom ordinance repeal deal confirms he was working with his ally Jennifer Roberts to kill any compromise all along,” Hayes said Monday. “This is the second …

The Charlotte Observer reports: Despite pressure from business leaders, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said Monday the city won’t repeal the ordinance that led to House Bill 2 this week – and maybe not at all. And in a memo to the City Council, the city attorney said the General Assembly doesn’t need the city to rescind its ordinance in order …

From the editorial page editor of the Charlotte Observer: With Hurricane HB2 blowing North Carolina’s doors off, Gov. Pat McCrory took questions in Charlotte last week – from himself. McCrory’s staff planted questions at a lunch event in SouthPark on Thursday with the crowd under the impression that they were coming from the media or the audience. The moderator, a …

Belgrade’s pride parade resumed in 2014 after having been banned for several years after hundreds of neo-Nazis clashed violently with riot police in 2010. Yesterday’s parade was peaceful thanks to the presence of 5000 cops. Balkan Insight reports: The third Belgrade Pride Parade, which took place under the slogan “Love changes the world”, was held on Sunday with several hundred …

Via press release: The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association remains committed to a resolution of this very complex situation. Our position is not for one side or the other. The hospitality community is an open and welcoming industry, but we find ourselves caught in the middle of a situation that we did not ask for, and our team members …

From the editorial board of the Charlotte Observer: Gov. Pat McCrory and some N.C. lawmakers are encouraging the Charlotte City Council to make a compromise that might result in the repeal of HB2. It’s a bad deal for the city, and more importantly, for members of the LGBT community who would lose their best chance at protections from discrimination. Council …

Via press release: The unintended consequences of Charlotte City Ordinance #7056 and House Bill 2 have taken a considerable toll on our state as a whole. The hospitality industry has become collateral damage in a fight it did not start or ask for. Restaurant and lodging businesses and their employees are suffering the adverse impact of these policies though lost …

Britain’s Bucks Free Press reports: A grammar school has been accused of handing out ‘homophobic’ work after a maths question sparked fury amongst parents and students. The shocking question, handed out by a school volunteer to a group of students at the all-boys Royal Grammar School, in High Wycombe, suggests only men and woman should get married “as God intended”. …

He’s panicking. Via the Charlotte Observer: Gov. Pat McCrory could call lawmakers into session as soon as next week to repeal House Bill 2 – but only if the Charlotte City Council first drops the ordinance that prompted it, his office confirmed Friday. The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association has been working to broker a compromise to stop the …

In 2011, Edward Albee said this: “A writer who happens to be gay or lesbian must be able to transcend self. I am not a gay writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay.” The New York Times reports: Edward Albee, widely considered the foremost American playwright of his generation, whose psychologically astute and piercing dramas explored the …

Here’s some rare evangelical infighting about gay parenting. First, a report from Circa: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s child care plan will cover same-sex married couples and foster parents, and neither evangelicals nor gay rights activists are particularly happy. The revelation was included in a Trump campaign fact sheet accompanying the plan, and it includes only one caveat: “The benefits …

You may recall that the incident, caught on a video that went viral nationwide, was widely characterized as a hate crime until it was learned that all involved parties are gay. Duncan Osbourne reports at Gay City News: Bayna-Lekheim El-Amin was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years post-release supervision for assaulting two men in the Dallas BBQ …

Reuters reports: A gay Chinese student activist has lodged a suit against the Ministry of Education over school textbooks describing homosexuality as a mental disorder, the latest step by China’s small but growing gay rights movement. It is not illegal to be gay in China and these days many large Chinese cities have thriving gay scenes, though there is still …

NBC Out reports: In his new film, “My Harlem,” filmmaker Jeff L. Lieberman takes a stand against Harlem’s anti-gay ATLAH Worldwide Missionary Church. The Vancouver native, who has documentary “The Amazing Nina Simone” under his belt, uses his new film to examine important themes including homophobia, gentrification and violence against the LGBTQ community. In “My Harlem,” the two main characters, …