LGBT News

Outsports reports: The International Olympic Committee has condemned as “simply unacceptable” a since-deleted story on the Daily Beast where a straight reporter posed as gay on Grindr to do a feature on sex at the Olympics. The IOC indicated in an email to Outsports that the writer, Nico Hines, is no longer in Rio. “We understand the organization concerned recalled …

From the guy who has vowed to repeal same-sex marriage and whose party just approved the most viciously anti-LGBT platform in history. The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump will declare an end to nation building if elected president, replacing it with what aides described as “foreign policy realism” focused on destroying the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations. In …

The BBC reports: About 200 people carrying rainbow flags descended on an east London supermarket for a mass “kissathon” after a gay couple were ejected for holding hands. Thomas Rees, 32, and Joshua Bradwell, 25, were in Sainsbury’s on Hackney Road when a guard told them a woman had complained about their behaviour. The protestors danced outside the Hackney Road …

Via White House press release: President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Closing Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Federative Republic of Brazil. The Closing Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Federative Republic of Brazil will be held on August 21, 2016. The …

BOOM. Another win for Roberta Kaplan. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A federal appeals court on Friday denied Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s request that the state be allowed to enforce a recently passed anti-LGBT religious exemption law while the state appeals a trial court’s order halting enforcement of that law. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in denying the request …

The Log Cabin Republicans this week announced that Newt Gingrich will headline their fundraiser next month in Washington DC. Gingrich, as most of you surely know, has long been a loud opponent of LGBT rights in virtually every category. He pledged to reinstate DADT if elected president. He signed NOM’s hate pledge to support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex …

Clip recap: Shocking news: gay people are having sex at the Olympics. And now a reporter has outed some of them — with potentially serious consequences, since some may face persecution back home. Is there any chance we can turn this into an opportunity to do some good, by talking about the changes we need to see around the world?

The Globe & Mail reports: As early as this autumn, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will apologize on behalf of all Canadians to those who were imprisoned, fired from their jobs or otherwise persecuted in the past because of their sexuality. That apology is a key element in a broad range of reforms that will collectively represent one of the greatest …

The Clinton campaign this afternoon forwarded to the media a blistering Huffington Post article which denounces Donald Trump for his address today to a group of anti-LGBT activists hosted by the Liberty Counsel. Here is the article in full: Donald Trump has said he’s the best ally to the LGBT community in this election cycle. The best, just the greatest. …

Mark Joseph Stern writes at Slate: On Thursday morning, the Daily Beast published an exceedingly gross and bizarre article by a straight, married male writer who lured in gay Olympians through hookup apps for no particular purpose. The entire piece is an astoundingly creepy exercise in Grindr-baiting, which involves a journalist accessing Grindr in an unlikely setting and … seeing …

Democracy & Freedom Watch reports: President Giorgi Margvelashvili made it clear Tuesday evening that he does not support the proposed referendum about amending the Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The reason, Margvelashvili said at a briefing, is that there is already a proper definition of marriage in the Constitution. With two hundred …

The Belize News reports: Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin today found that Section 53 of the Criminal Code which criminalizes consenting intercourse between adults of the same sex contravenes the right granted by the Constitution of Belize to no interference with a person’s dignity and personal privacy, as well as equality and equal treatment of all persons before the law. So …

San Francisco’s Lone Star Saloon has become the city’s first gay bar to earn “legacy business” status under a recently voter-approved program to protect culturally significant businesses from developers and their wrecking balls. The Examiner reports: When landlords sell their buildings, the “for sale” sign can feel like a death sentence for the businesses operating there, which are subject to …

Roughly translated from ABC España: The gold medal-winning Australian female rugby delegation isn’t alone in celebrating. Isadora Cerullo, who plays for Brazil, tonight received a marriage proposal from her partner, who works as a volunteer for the Rio Games. The proposal was accepted and sealed with a kiss in front of journalists from around the world. The proposal took place …

Via press release: Chris Mosier began competing in the duathlon and triathlon in 2009 after he completed his first marathon, because he needed a greater challenge. “For me, triathlon is a true challenge because it is three different disciplines in one sport,” Mosier explains. “Triathlon is [also] a challenge for me because swimming is my weakest sport, and it’s the …

The Associated Press reports: Roughly 5 percent of North Carolina’s magistrates are refusing to marry same-sex couples for religious reasons, and lawyers for the state say people suing in federal court have no standing to challenge these opt-outs as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn scheduled a hearing for Monday in Asheville in part to consider a motion by the …

Amsterdam was the host city for EuroPride this year and what a party it was. Via the Netherlands Times: The closing party for EuroPride 2016 in Amsterdam on Sunday night attracted around 500 thousand visitors, according to the Amsterdam police. By 8:00 p.m. the police had to start showing people away as the Rembrandtplein reached its capacity, the Gelderlander reports. …

Buzzfeed reports: Ugandan police interrupted the Mr. and Miss Pride Uganda pageant at Kampala’s Venom nightclub on Thursday night, detaining several well known LGBT activists for about three hours before releasing them without charge. Around 20 to 25 people were arrested, those detained told BuzzFeed News after their release. That number included Pepe Julian Onziema and Frank Mugisha of Sexual …

Back in February, I reported that the New York Mets will host its first-ever LGBT Pride Night on August 13th. Today we learn that pre-game entertainment will be provided by dance legend Martha Wash, the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Marching Band, and renowned trans concert pianist Sara Davis Buechner. From Buechner’s Facebook page: This is certainly one of the …

Donald Trump is the true friend of the LGBT community, not Hillary Clinton, and spoke-nutjob Katrina Pierson has parroted those words many times. Oh, but wait. Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: But Pierson, the official national campaign spokesperson for the Trump campaign, did not express such warm sentiments to gays in 2012. “Gay is not normal, accept that,” she said …