LGBT News

The Desk reports: The news director of a Michigan NBC affiliate ordered her reporters to ease up on coverage of LGBT-focused stories during Pride Month, saying the news pieces were upsetting some of the station’s conservative viewers. The memo, penned by WOOD-TV (Channel 8) Assistant News Director Amy Fox, followed several reports that focused on a celebration hosted in the …

More Fox News lies: Republican Sen. Roger Marshall introduced a bill on Wednesday, Flag Day, aimed at preventing government buildings from flying any flag other than the American flag. The bill, known as the One Flag for All Act, will make it illegal to fly, drape or display any flag other than the American flag on federal buildings or properties, …

The Detroit Free Press reports: After three hours of public comment and months of intense debate, the Hamtramck City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags from being displayed on all city properties. Introduced by Mayor Pro Tem Mohammed Hassan, the resolution also prohibited the display and flying of flags with racist and political views. Hassan and …

The Associated Press reports: The suspect in a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub is expected to strike a plea deal to state murder and hate charges that would ensure at least a life sentence for the attack that killed five people and wounded 17, several survivors told The Associated Press. Word of a possible legal resolution of …

From the Justice Department: A Montana man was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris to 18 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for shooting into a residence and attempting to shoot others with the intent of ridding a town of LGBTQI+ residents. John Russell Howald, of Basin, was convicted by a federal jury …

The New Republic reports: Starbucks has banned Pride decorations in its stores halfway through Pride Month, the company’s workers union claimed Tuesday, in a stunning cave to far-right anti-LGBTQ fury. There has been a wave of ultra-conservative pushback against companies that express support for equal rights. It started when Bud Light did a campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in …

Castanet reports: Two Kelowna moms are speaking out after their 9-year-old daughter was verbally assaulted at a track and field event on Thursday at Kelowna’s Apple Bowl. The mothers, who choose not to identify their daughter, say she was competing in a shot-put event when a grandfather of one of the other participants started yelling at her. “She went to …

Chicago’s ABC affiliate reports: Governor JB Pritzker signed historic legislation Monday that would ban libraries from banning books. The law is the first of its kind in the nation, and would cut off funding to any libraries that remove books currently on the shelf. The law was pushed by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is also the state’s librarian, …

The Associated Press reports: Republican delegates in North Carolina voted Saturday at their annual convention to censure Thom Tillis, the state’s senior U.S. senator, for backing LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and gun violence policies. Several delegates in Greensboro criticized Tillis, who has held his seat in the Senate since 2015, for his work last year on the Respect For Marriage Act, …

Published this week to Cracker Barrel’s website: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at Cracker Barrel We have a responsibility to live up to our mission of Pleasing People each day, ensuring that every member of our team and every guest feels at home, feels cared for like family, and feels like they belong. Also guiding our way is the sense …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Los Angeles school board President Jackie Goldberg pulled out an oversized children’s book titled “The Great Big Book of Families” and turned a public meeting into story time, her own not-so-subtle statement to critics of LGBTQ+ education. “In real life, families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes,” she read, as the text by …

NPR reports: The ACLU of Indiana has filed a lawsuit to halt Indiana’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. Court documents said the act’s lack of definitions about “human sexuality” and “instruction” mean teachers don’t know what they can and can’t teach. If found in violation of HEA 1608, teachers could have their licenses suspended or revoked. The lawsuit was filed …

Via email from activist Wayne Besen: The Freedom March is a right-wing Christian fundamentalist organization that exists to “help” LGBTQ people “pray away the gay.” They also claim to help people transition out of being trans. So, it was a really bad day for the Freedom March when its founder, Jeffrey McCall, announced online that he was hooking up with …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in honor of Pride Month: “As we recognize Pride Month and celebrate the LGBTQI+ community, the Justice Department renews its commitment to protecting the rights of every person to live free from discrimination and persecution based on who they are …

Columbus’s NBC affiliate reports: Ohio lawmakers are advancing a bill allowing parents to opt their child of out school “sexuality” lessons, legislation opponents said is anti-LGBTQ+ and will force educators to out students. House Bill 8 — the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” — would require teachers to notify parents before teaching “sexuality content” and of any change in a student’s …

New Orleans’ CBS affiliate reports: Gov. John Bel Edwards condemned recent legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community in Louisiana, saying he would veto those bills. At a press conference on Thursday, Gov. Edwards compared the recent measures to historical opposition to the Civil Rights Movement. “On those issues, the judgement of history … will be very clear. It will be as …

The Arizona Republic reports: Arizona won’t be the latest state to limit students from using restrooms that fit their gender identity after Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday vetoed a Republican-backed bill that would have put legal requirements on public school bathrooms. Senate Bill 1040 is “yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state …

Seattle’s CBS affiliate reports: Vandals targeted an iconic mural in Seattle early Sunday morning, according to the homeowner and video from the scene. The home – located off Interstate 5 near the Northeast 65th Street exit – has a mural on an outside wall that faces the freeway featuring 1950s pinup model Bettie Page and historic drag queen Divine. Just …

Seattle’s NBC affiliate reports: A Sammamish planning commissioner who made anti-LGBTQ+ remarks during a meeting last week has resigned. Sammamish Mayor Kali Clark accepted Wassim Fayed’s resignation immediately Monday. The city strongly condemned Fayed’s comments, but activists say there needs to be more accountability. During a June 1 meeting on the first day of Pride Month, Fayed spoke to his …

NBC News reports: A Pride flag was taken down and burned outside of a City Hall building in Tempe, Arizona, officials said Tuesday. The flag-burning comes months after a bomb threat was made to an LGBTQ-owned coffee shop in Tempe, a city of 186,000 people that’s about 10 miles east of Phoenix. The flag — which flew alongside the American, …