LGBT News

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …