LGBT News

ALABAMA: Drag Queen Ambrosia Starling Mulls 2018 Gubernatorial Bid Against Chief Justice Roy Moore

Most expect currently suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore to run for governor in 2018 if the SPLC’s ethics complaint results in his being booted from the bench for a second time. Moore’s archenemy, local drag star Ambrosia Starling, yesterday revealed that she just might challenge him for the governor’s mansion. From the Huffington Post: Starling, who publicly …

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Maroon 5 Goes Springsteen On North Carolina

From the band’s website: We have announced that we will be canceling our upcoming shows in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina because of the recent passage of the HB2 legislation. This was a difficult decision for us to make as a band. We don’t want to penalize our fans in North Carolina by not performing for them, but in the …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Ironman Competition Allows 200 Athletes To Bail On Triathlons Over Anti-LGBT Hate Law

From the Charlotte Observer: About 200 people who had registered to run Ironman triathalons in North Carolina this year have transferred to races in other states after the sport said they could make the switch due to North Carolina’s controversial LGBT law, organizers said. Ironman, the Tampa, Fla.-based sports organization, had given registrants until May 9 to request a transfer …

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ARKANSAS: Gov. Asa Hutchinson Holds Off Bill That Would Make “Incorrect” Restroom Use A Sex Crime

NPR reports: Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he’s worked with fellow Republicans to keep a transgender bathroom bill off the agenda of a special session he called to address highway funding. Instead, Hutchinson plans to work with lawmakers on legislation for next year’s lengthier, regular legislative session. During a press conference, Hutchinson said adding the item to the special session has …

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Seychelles Decriminalizes Homosexuality

The Atlantic reports: Same-sex acts are no longer illegal in the Republic of Seychelles, the 115-island country off the East African coast, making it one of the few African countries to decriminalize the acts. Fourteen lawmakers voted Wednesday in favor of the proposal to amend Section 151 of the country’s Penal Code that named sodomy a felony, punishable with up …

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CHAOS: House Erupts With Chants Of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Over GOP Vote On LGBT Rights [VIDEOS]

Wow! Politico reports: The House erupted in chaos Thursday morning with Democrats crying foul after Republicans hastily convinced a few of their own to switch their votes and narrowly block an amendment intended to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination. It was an unruly scene on the floor, with Democrats chanting “shame!” after GOP leaders just barely …

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PHILADELPHIA: Victims In 2014 Gay Bashing File Civil Lawsuit Against All Three Convicted Attackers

Philly Mag reports: The victims of the September 2014 gay-bashing assault in Center City are taking their attackers to court. Earlier this week, Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught filed a civil suit against Kathryn Knott, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams for their roles in the attack. Harrigan and Williams both escaped jail time when they pleaded guilty last year to …

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CBS/NYT Poll: 41% Back Trans Restroom Rights

Politico recaps: Americans are divided over whether transgender people should be allowed to use the public bathrooms of the gender with which they identify or the gender they were born as, according to the results of a CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday. Nearly half—46 percent—said transgender people should be required to use the bathroom corresponding with their birth …

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PENNSYLVANIA: 97 GOP Lawmakers Send Obama Letter Expressing “Extreme Outrage” At Trans Guidelines

Nutcase Daryl Metcalfe is at it again. Via Newsworks: Ninety-seven Republican state representatives in Pennsylvania — including several from the Philadelphia region — have signed off on a letter to President Barack Obama, calling the new federal directive to make public schools transgender-inclusive “unconstitutional” and an “extreme outrage.” Led by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, lawmakers argue in their letter …

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PINK PISTOLS: Gay Gun Rights Group Wins Lawsuit Against Washington DC’s Concealed Carry Law

US News reports: A group that advocates for gay Americans to carry firearms says its Tuesday victory in federal court against a restrictive concealed carry law in the nation’s capital is a twofold win for their cause. Pink Pistols leader Gwen Patton say U.S. District Judge Richard Leon handed the group not only a win with real-world effects but fantastic …

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DC Grocery Store Security Guard Charged With Assaulting Trans Woman In Restroom [VIDEO]

NBC Washington reports: D.C. police have charged a security guard at a Giant grocery store with simple assault after a transgender woman said the guard forced her out of the women’s restroom. Ebony Belcher, 32, said she went to the Giant in northeast D.C. with a friend to pick up a delivery from the Western Union. While at the Giant, …

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STUDY: HIV Rates Are Highest In US South

From the Associated Press: Three out of every 10 gay or bisexual men in several cities in the U.S. South have been diagnosed with the AIDS virus, three times the national rate, according to a study about how common HIV infections are in metro areas. The study echoes other research that reported higher rates of HIV diagnoses in the South, …

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73 House Republicans Issue Letter “Demanding Answers” On Federal Transgender Rights Guidelines

From the right wing Heritage Foundation: The largest conservative congressional caucus is calling into question the legality of President Barack Obama’s transgender bathroom directive for schools. Chairman Bill Flores, R-Texas, is encouraging Republican Study Committee members to sign on to a letter, pushing the Departments of Education and Justice to detail how, and on what authority, they plan to enforce …

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House Approves Bill Which Undermines Obama’s Executive Order On Anti-LGBT Bias By Contractors

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Despite objections from the White House and LGBT advocates, the U.S. House late Wednesday night approved a major defense spending bill that includes a component undermining President Obama’s executive order against LGBT discrimination. After hours of debate on the measure, the House approved the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill by a party-line …

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Hillary Clinton: End The Criminalization Of HIV [VIDEO]

HIV Plus Magazine reports: Speaking via a pre-recorded video to attendees of the HIV is Not a Crime Training Academy, Hilary Clinton says if she wins the Presidential election, she will work to reform outdated, stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws. Clinton thanked attendees for their work, saying that efforts like HIV is Not a Crime “lift us all up.” Saying we …

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UNITED NATIONS: Egypt-Led Muslim States Block LGBT Groups From Attending Meeting On HIV/AIDS

Reuters reports: A group of 51 Muslim states has blocked 11 gay and transgender organizations from attending a high-level meeting at the United Nations next month on ending AIDS, sparking a protest by the United States, Canada and the European Union. Egypt wrote to the president of the 193-member General Assembly on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to …

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NORTH CAROLINA: HRC Retains Prop 8 Champion Ted Olson For Amicus Brief In Challenge Of Anti-LGBT Law

Via press release: Today, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, announced that Theodore B. Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP will author an amicus brief on behalf of leading businesses in support of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s hateful HB2 law. “HB2 discriminates against fellow citizens because of who they are,” …

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Senate Confirms Eric Fanning As Army Secretary, First Openly Gay Leader Of Any US Military Service

Finally. Via the Associated Press: In another historical moment for the Obama administration, the Senate on Tuesday evening confirmed the long-stalled nomination of Eric Fanning to be Army secretary. Fanning thus becomes the first openly gay leader of any U.S. military service. The voice vote came after Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., dropped his opposition in a dispute over Obama administration …

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Itzhak Perlman Goes Springsteen On North Carolina

From the Raleigh News & Observer: Itzhak Perlman is the latest artist to cancel a North Carolina performance over the state’s controversial House Bill 2. One of the world’s greatest concert violinists, the 70-year-old Perlman was scheduled to play Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall Wednesday night with the NC Symphony. But he called off the show on Tuesday, releasing the statement …

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MEXICO: President Denounces Homophobia, Calls For Immediate Marriage Equality Nationwide

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto today unleashed a flurry of tweets that recognize today’s International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia and call for immediate marriage equality nationwide. Same-sex marriage is recognized in all 31 Mexican states, but currently only eight states have enacted laws that allow gay couples to marry locally without going to court. From the Associated Press: Speaking …

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