LGBT News

Wilton Manors Officials Vote Against Drag At Pride

South Florida Gay News reports: Drag queens and other performers who work up and down Wilton Drive, filed into the city commission chamber at Wilton Manors City Hall. They, along with other citizens, stood up and spoke out, urging commissioners to stand with them against the tyranny of Tallahassee. In the end, the panel sympathized, empathized, and voted against them. …

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Polls Close In Turkey’s Tight Presidential Election Race

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was facing the greatest political challenge of his career after millions voted on Sunday in pivotal elections that could reshape the country’s domestic and foreign policies. The presidential and parliamentary elections took place three months after devastating earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey, and were in …

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Dem Rep Targets MTG With “Motherhood” Resolution

The Hill reports: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution Friday that would formally recognize and celebrate diverse family units across the nation. The introduction of the resolution, which Garcia’s office said is a “direct response” to comments made during a House hearing last month by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that suggested non-biological mothers are not actual mothers, comes …

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Texas Fails To Repeal Law Criminalizing Homosexuality

The Texas Tribune reports: A promising Democratic push to repeal Texas’ defunct ban on gay sex has fizzled after the lower chamber ran out of time to consider House Bill 2055 on Thursday. In June 2003, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas struck down the state’s criminalization of gay sex. Sessions after sessions since then, Texas …

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Florida Grocer Sorry For Refusing “Trans Joy” Cake

The Orlando Weekly reports: Yasmin Flasterstein and Dandelion Hill had just one stop left on their way to a “transgender joy” event hosted by the Orlando group they co-founded, Peer Support Space. They walked into Publix at Colonialtown with the intention of picking out a cake and grabbing some flowers. But when the two asked the bakery associate to write, …

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Texas Lesbian Bar Denied Insurance Over Drag Shows

Click2Houston reports: Denied. For the owner of a local lesbian bar, that’s the word that keeps playing over and over in her head. This, after she said an insurance underwriter denied coverage to her business, in part, because it hosts drag shows. Julie Mabry, owner of Pearl Bar, has insurance but decided to switch agents and shop around for a …

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College Coach’s Anti-Gay Slur Costs Him $1M/Year

ESPN reports: West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins will return to the sideline next season in the wake of using an anti-gay slur in a radio interview earlier this week. Huggins has agreed to a million-dollar salary reduction, a three-game suspension and sensitivity training. Huggins’ suspension will take place during the Mountaineers’ first three regular-season games, and his contract will …

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DeSantis Signs Bill Allowing Doctors To Refuse LGBTQs

Florida Politics reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ COVID-19 policies will now be enshrined in state law as the Governor signed bills that will make permanent bans on vaccine and mask mandates as well as give a shield to doctors who deviate from other medical professionals. SB 1580 allows health care providers and insurance companies to deny care or reimbursement for …

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Kansas City To Become Trans Rights “Sanctuary City”

The Associated Press reports: Officials in Missouri’s largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults. A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members …

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ND Gov Signs Bill Ordering Outing Of Trans Students

The Associated Press reports: North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a bill that prohibits public schools and government entities from requiring teachers and employees to refer to transgender people by the pronouns they use, the governor’s office announced Monday. The new law also requires teachers to tell a parent or legal guardian if the student identifies as transgender. …

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Orlando Paper Blasts Legislature For Rubber-Stamping “Hateful, Harmful” Agenda Of “Authoritarian” DeSantis

From the editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel: The best that can be said about Friday’s finish of the 2023 legislative session is that it has ended. Senators and representatives packed up and headed home, where most can no longer do more damage to Florida citizens. But the misery will continue as Gov. Ron DeSantis gleefully signs into law the …

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Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr Proposes To Her Girlfriend

Pink News reports: Democratic representative and trans trailblazer Zooey Zephyr has proposed to her girlfriend, the independent journalist and LGBTQ+ activist Erin Reed. Reed told PinkNews that the couple had been “side by side through it all for the last several months” and they are “thrilled” to be “a source of happiness for our community”. The past few weeks have …

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F1 Champion To Don Rainbow Helmet In FL Grand Prix

The Associated Press reports: Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton lashed out Thursday at anti-LGBTQ measures enacted by Florida lawmakers and ripped the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law with a reference to oppression seen in Saudi Arabia. “It’s not good at all,” Hamilton said ahead of F1’s highly anticipated race in suburban Miami this weekend. “I stand by those …

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Australia’s Victoria State Premier Calls Out Threats By Anti-LGBTQ Haters: Take Your Ugly Behavior To Florida

“This Americanisation of our politics has no place here. My message to those people is, very clearly: if you want to behave like the worst elements of the Floridian Republican Party, get to Florida. “Head over there, where your hateful views might be worth something. They are worth nothing here. We will not stand for this sort of ugly behavior. …

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Florida Mayors Pledge Support For LGBTQ Rights

ABC News reports: Florida mayors across the state are speaking out in support of LGBTQ rights in light of several bills targeting the community that have been passed by the state legislature and are heading to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis. At least eight mayors from Orlando, Miami Beach, Tampa, Tallahassee and more have signed the pledge in support …

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GOP Indiana Governor Signs “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

The Associated Press reports: Indiana’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that will require schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, one of the final bills approved in a legislative session that had targeted LGBTQ+ people in the state, especially students. Critics worry the law could out transgender children to their …

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DeSantis Gets Bill Allowing FL To Seize Trans Children

The New Republic reports: The Florida legislature passed a bill Thursday that will let the state take transgender minors away from their families if they are receiving gender-affirming care. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 26–13, mainly along party lines, and the House shortly after by a vote of 83–28, again along party lines. The measure now …

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Erdogan Rallies Anti-Gay Hate To Bolster Reelection Bid

Agence France-Presse reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday launched a new attack against Turkey’s LGBTQ community as he played up his conservative credentials ahead of a crucial May 14 vote. Polls show the 69-year-old running neck-and-neck with leftist secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in one of Turkey’s most important election races of its post-Ottoman history. “We are against the LGBT,” …

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GOP Florida Lawmakers Pass Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Nearing the end of a legislative session filled with debates about transgender issues, Florida lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at requiring people to use bathrooms that line up with their sex assigned at birth. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 26-12 to approve the bill (HB 1521), with the House following a short time later by …

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DeSantis Gets Bill Allowing Businesses To Sue To Block Local Ordinances On LGBTQ Rights, Other Regulations

Florida Politics reports: House members voted 82-33 along party lines for SB 170, a controversial measure that since its introduction last year has put advocates for local governance and home rule on edge. The bill is titled “Local Ordinances,” and that’s its target. The bill, which would largely go into effect Oct. 1 after receiving Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature, would …

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