LGBT News

At this writing a growing crowd of about 1000 are protesting in support of North Carolina’s anti-LGBT hate law as Democrats introduce a repeal bill in the state Assembly. LGBT activists led by Equality North Carolina and the Human Rights Campaign started the day by delivering petitions calling for the law’s repeal. Local news video reports are below. Thousands gather …

The Mirror reports: The editor of Bangladesh’s first ever LGBT magazine has been hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants in a horrific attack, it is reported. Julhas Mannan, 35, who worked for ‘Roopbaan’, was killed alongside his friend, Tanay Mojumdar, in an apartment in the capital of Dhaka, a police official said. A third person was injured in the …

Today’s “Moral Monday” protests against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT HB2 have begun outside the state capitol building. Anti-LGBT groups have vowed to bus in thousands to counter-protest. Watch live at this link.

From the New York Daily News: Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office says it was misled about the sale of the Rivington House Lower East Side AIDS care facility to a condo developer. State law requires court approval — with recommendations from the Attorney General’s Office and state Health Department — whenever a not-for-profit facility like Rivington House is converted into …

Video below. From Raleigh’s CBS affiliate: Hundreds of people against and for House Bill 2 will descend on downtown Raleigh to make their voices heard as the General Assembly begins a new session Monday. When lawmakers file into the legislative building they’ll be met with plenty of opposition, but they won’t have to look far to find support. “We’re expecting …

From Wilmington’s NBC affiliate: On Monday morning, Representatives Darren Jackson, Graig Meyer, Susi Hamilton, and Grier Martin will file a bill to repeal House Bill 2 (Public Facilities Privacy Act) in its entirety. As part of this effort, the four Representatives will hold a joint press conference on Monday at 11:00 am in the NCGA pressroom to further explain beginning …

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune: A woman who overheard a cashier at a New Orleans Family Dollar store loudly expressing homophobic sentiments to customers with a “hateful passion” said she was denied service after she identified herself as gay and asked the cashier to stop. Videos recorded by Melissa Langford, 34, capture the moments after her initial confrontation as the …

Politico reports: At 90-years-old, a former U.S. senator has found love with a man — 20 years after the death of his wife. Harris Wofford, a Democrat who represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1991-1995, wrote in a column for The New York Times that he is set to marry a man this Saturday. Wofford retells the story of …

During an appearance today in London, President Obama encouraged an emotional transgender student, saying that he is “incredibly proud” of her work for social reform, but that it’s not possible to overturn laws like North Carolina’s with the current Congress. From the Daily Mail: Maria Munir, a University of York student who is running for a council seat in Watford, …

Thanks in part to pressure from virulently anti-gay and comically bewigged Catholic activist Michael Voris, last week the Catholic Church fired its news service editor for tweeting against North Carolina’s hate law. Yesterday Voris posted a video on his website, Church Militant, in which he confesses that for most his thirties, he lived a sexually sinful life of “live-in relationships …

Philadelphia Gay News reports: It appears that Kathryn Knott will not file a full appeal of her prison sentence. Knott was convicted of assault and other charges in December, stemming from a 2014 gay-bashing incident, and sentenced to 5 to 10 months in prison Knott would have typically had 30 days after her Feb. 8 sentencing hearing to appeal to …

From the Charlotte Observer: As opposition to North Carolina’s House Bill 2 grows, NASCAR has joined the chorus of companies calling for the law to be overturned. According to Motorsport.com, a site that covers racing news, NASCAR Chairman Brian France made the announcement at a meeting this week with Associated Press sports editors. Jim Utter, a longtime NASCAR writer, reported …

The Daily Mail reports: President Barack Obama told British travelers that new laws in North Carolina and Mississippi pertaining to the treatment of LGBT individuals are “wrong and should be overturned” but they need not worry about being treated discourteously if they visit. “I want everybody here in the United Kingdom to know that the people of North Carolina and …

From the Human Rights Campaign: On April 5, 2016, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed into law H.B. 1523, “The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act,” which would allow individuals, religious organizations and private associations to use religion to discriminate against LGBT Mississippians in some of the most important aspects of their lives, including at work, at schools, and in their communities. Take …

From the Charlotte Observer: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday that if North Carolina’s LGBT law remains unchanged, the 2017 All-Star Game would have to be moved from Charlotte. Silver’s comments on the state’s controversial House Bill 2 came at the Associated Press Sports Editors’ commissioner meetings Thursday, according to attendees. Earlier in the day, Silver again called the law …

“Unless you conform to ESPN’s radical cultural agenda, you’re a narrow minded, judgmental, unloving, racist bigot – not worthy of death – just unworthy to be gainfully employed. But I suspect an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with Schilling’s perspective on transgender bathrooms. Many moms and dads sincerely do not want their young daughters sharing a bathroom or a locker …

CBS News reports: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and GOP front-runner Donald Trump sparred Thursday over North Carolina’s law requiring transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their birth gender. Earlier in the day, Cruz said the country has “gone off the deep end” over the issue of transgender bathroom use. “As you know, my daughters are 5 and …

This brings the total to more than 20 lost conventions. Via the Charlotte News & Observer: Another group has canceled an upcoming event in Charlotte because it opposes North Carolina’s new LGBT law. The National Organization for Victim Assistance was supposed to have its 42nd annual training event at Sheraton Charlotte Hotel-Le Meridien Aug. 21-24. About 1,200 were scheduled to …

Yesterday ESPN fired baseball commentator Curt Schilling for sharing a viciously anti-transgender image on social media. Right wing figures, as usual, are responding with screams about political correctness, homofascism, and freedom of speech – the last of which, of course, only applies to actions by the government, but whatever! Outrage! More interesting is the statement posted on Facebook yesterday by …

In the face of international furor over North Carolina’s hate law, the Missouri House Emerging Issues Committee yesterday delayed a vote on SJR39, the anti-LGBT “license to discriminate” bill which last month passed in the state Senate after an epic 39-hour filibuster by Democrats. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: “A few of them (committee members) have asked for more time, …