LGBT News

From the Washington Blade: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a new commitment to highlight access to generic medications during a meeting with HIV/AIDS activists, according to attendees at the meeting. The meeting took place late Wednesday in San Bernadino, Calif., with days remaining before the Democratic primary in the state on June 7. According to a statement from the …

The Guardian reports: Sir Terence Etherton, Britain’s first openly gay senior judge, has been appointed master of the rolls, making him head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales. The 64-year-old lawyer’s promotion was confirmed by an announcement from Downing Street on Thursday morning. Etherton, who has been on the court of appeal and is currently chancellor of the …

But check out the amendments. Politico reports: The House late Wednesday night passed a spending bill amendment that would ban federal contractors who discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people, putting into law a 2014 executive order. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) had attempted to attach a similar amendment to a Veterans Affairs appropriations bill last week, but House …

From the New York Times: That is the back story to a legal case that had already grabbed headlines: The wrestler Hulk Hogan sued Gawker Media for invasion of privacy after it published a sex tape, and a Florida jury recently awarded the wrestler, whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, $140 million. What the jury did not know — …

From the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Today, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed Senate Bill 132 into law, making Vermont the eighth jurisdiction—behind California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Washington D.C., and Cincinnati—to protect LGBTQ youth from the dangers of conversion therapy. Senate Bill 132, which protects LGBTQ youth from mental health providers attempting to change their sexual orientation …

Michael Lavers reports at the Washington Blade: Two men on Tuesday became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Colombia. Fernando Quimbayo and José Ticora, who have been together for two years, exchanged vows before a registrar in the city of Cali. El País, a Colombian newspaper, posted a video of the ceremony on its website. Colombia’s constitutional court …

Via Rex Wockner: Sixty-five percent of Mexicans agree with “approving marriage of persons of the same sex at the national level,” a new BGC-Excélsior poll has found. Thirty-four percent disagree. Sixty-six percent agree or agree in part with changing the federal constitution to permit at the national level that persons of the same sex or different sex can establish a …

The Hill reports: House Democrats will try again this week to pass legislation promoting equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people after being thwarted in a dramatic vote last week. The office of Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who sponsored the anti-discrimination provision, confirmed Tuesday that the New York Democrat will offer his amendment again as part of …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Two carjacking suspects who reportedly used the gay dating app Grindr to lure their victims have been arrested by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, officials said Tuesday. The carjackings occurred over the last two weeks in the high desert communities of Victorville and Adelanto, according to deputies. “On both occasions, the victims had blindly …

From the San Diego Union-Tribune: Responding to Monday’s apology from the DJ who mistakenly played the wrong national anthem tape at Saturday’s Padres game, the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus has called on the Padres to reinstate the performer known as DJ ArtForm. The chorus on Tuesday issued the following statement on its Facebook page: “As a community outreach organization …

Whoa. From the Charlotte Observer: Mecklenburg County has suffered an economic blow of $285 million and a loss of as many as 1,300 jobs as a result of House Bill 2, a new Charlotte Chamber report says. The report also says inquiries about new economic development are down 58 percent since lawmakers passed the bill in March, and client visits …

Amazing. The Age reports: Peter McEwan was just 17 when the police caught him caressing another man behind some bushes on Brighton beach in 1967. It was enough for him to receive a criminal conviction while he was still finishing year 12. He said police had written a confession for him and he agreed to sign it. “I was an …

The Red Arrows, the precision flying unit of the Royal Air Force, will fly over London Pride next month as a “mark of respect for their LGBT colleagues.” This has some LGBT activists quite upset. Gay Star News has a statement: “We represent a cross-section of people from the LGBTQ community and anti-militarist groups who were shocked and outraged by …

From the San Diego Union-Tribune: Major League Baseball is investigating a situation involving the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus and the national anthem Saturday at Petco Park. MLB spokesman Pat Courtney told the Union-Tribune that baseball’s investigations department will begin to gather information to determine why the chorus was unable to perform as a pre-recorded voice of a previous singer …

The Charlotte Observer reports: As the Charlotte City Council prepares for a possible vote Monday on repealing its own nondiscrimination ordinance, the Human Rights Campaign has mounted an intense lobbying effort to keep it in place and has accused the Charlotte Chamber of being an “anti-LGBT bully.” The Washington-based HRC, a gay rights group that helped the city write the …

From the Washington Post: The Padres tweeted out another statement Sunday night, in which the team said that an “internal investigation” had revealed “no malicious intent.” However, the “unintentional mistake” did lead San Diego to “take disciplinary action against [an] employee” and let go of a “third-party contractor.” The Padres offered another apology and noted their “commitment to inclusion.” Statement …

From the Facebook page of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus: What should have been a night of joy and celebration at Petco Park last night, instead turned into a nightmare raising serious questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres organization and its relationship with the LGBT community. Before the start of the last night’s San Diego Padres game, …

The Hill reports: Democrats are vowing to target House Republicans in tough reelection races who allegedly switched their votes to ensure a measure to prevent discrimination against the LGBT community wouldn’t pass. Four of the seven Republicans accused of changing their votes after arm-twisting from GOP leaders are considered particularly vulnerable in the general election this fall. A list circulated …

Via Reuters: A Texas-based LGBT advocacy outlet helped spark a grammar debate this week over whether an errant comma in the stridently anti-homosexual Republican Party of Texas platform can be read as saying the majority of Texans are gay. The plank that was approved by delegates at the party’s convention this month reads: “Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is …

Via press release: “During an election year in which voters across the country are crying out because they feel our country’s political system is at best broken and at worst rigged, the sham on the floor of the United States House of Representatives yesterday spearheaded by Leader McCarthy played up everything wrong with congress today,” Log Cabin Republicans President Gregory …