LGBT News

NBC News reports: The executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans is the latest official to resign from the conservative LGBTQ group after it recently endorsed President Donald Trump for re-election. Less than a year after after she became the first woman to lead the group, Jerri Ann Henry, a lesbian activist who fought for the legalization of same-sex marriage …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Taylor Swift opened the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards on Monday with performances of “You Need to Calm Down” and “Lover.” The performance began with Swift, Todrick Hall and Dexter Mayfield sitting on lounge chairs as she sang the opening lines to “You Need to Calm Down.” Dancers dressed in colorful ensembles moved around the stage …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: The Trump administration took its hardest line yet to legalize anti-gay discrimination on Friday when it asked the Supreme Court to declare that federal law allows private companies to fire workers based only on their sexual orientation. An amicus brief filed by the DOJ weighs in on two cases involving gay workers and what …

The Associated Press reports: Gary Ray Bowles, a serial killer who preyed on older gay men during an eight-month spree that left six dead, was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison. The sentence was carried out at 10:58 p.m., according to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Bowles received the death penalty for the November 1994 murder …

Reuters reports: Limiting marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman will remain China’s legal position, a parliament spokesman said on Wednesday, ruling out following neighboring Taiwan in allowing same-sex marriage, despite pressure from activists. Taiwan’s parliament passed a bill in May that endorsed same-sex marriage, after years of heated debate over marriage equality that has divided the …

Politico reports: A California state senator has formally asked state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to investigate whether the powerhouse AIDS Healthcare Foundation is fraudulently misusing savings from a federal drug-discount program designed to help poor patients. The request comes from state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-Chula Vista), who has urged an investigation into the politically powerful organization that has dumped upwards …

The Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson today asked Trump if he’s OK with his administration’s recent steps to make it easier to discriminate against LGBT workers.  His response: “Well, you know, I just got an award, or an endorsement yesterday from the exact group. You saw that? They gave me the endorsement yesterday. I’ve done very well with that community and some …

The Jerusalem Post reports: The Palestinian Authority has banned members of the Palestinian LGBTQ community from carrying out any activities in the West Bank. The ban came after the grassroots group Al-Qaws for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, (Arabic for the bow), which engages and supports Palestinians who identify as LGBTQ, was planning to hold a gathering for …

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson writes for the Ottawa Citizen: I’m gay. There – I said it; or rather, wrote it. Those two words took me almost four decades to utter, but as they say, “Better late than never.” As I look back over the years, there were some telltale signs that I wasn’t straight. As a grade 7 student, I …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: The Trump administration on Friday took one of its most aggressive steps yet to legalize anti-transgender discrimination by telling the Supreme Court that federal law allows firing workers solely for being transgender, arguing a Michigan funeral home could fire a transgender woman because she wanted to wear women’s clothing on the job. Although the …

The New York Post reports: Actress Faye Dunaway relentlessly berated her gay personal assistant on play “Tea at Five,” calling him “a little homosexual boy” before he was fired for complaining, a new lawsuit alleges. Michael Rocha says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that he began working for the Broadway-bound production — from which Dunaway was eventually fired — …

The Deseret News reports: Ed Smart, the father of kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart, shared in a Facebook message with family and friends Thursday that he is gay, divorcing his wife and doesn’t see a place for himself in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In “one of the hardest letters I have ever written,” Smart wrote that “I …

The BBC reports: Matt Healy, the frontman of Brit Award-winning band The 1975, has defied Dubai’s anti-LGBTQ laws by kissing a male audience member during a gig. Fan footage showed Healy venturing into the crowd and kissing a man on the lips, to loud cheers, on Wednesday. He is then seen returning to the stage and declaring: “I love you …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: The Trump administration on Wednesday formally proposed a new rule to let businesses with federal contracts cite religious objections as a valid reason to discriminate against their workers on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, LGBTQ status, and other characteristics — thereby skirting worker protections created by past presidents. But the Trump …

The BBC reports: A bus driver has been suspended after he allegedly refused to drive a bus supporting Pride events. He reportedly told passengers in Norwich: “This bus promotes homosexuality and I refuse to drive it.” Rainbow numbers were used on the bus in a nod to the Pride flag. Go East Anglia, which runs Konectbus, said the driver had …

France 24 reports: For the first time, an openly gay candidate has thrown his hat in the ring for a presidential election in Tunisia. Mounir Baatour heads the country’s main LGBT rights group. His bid marks a test for post-revolutionary Tunisia’s fledgling democracy. Baatour, a lawyer at Tunisia’s highest court and the president of Shams, a group seeking the decriminalisation …

The Associated Press reports: A Virginia restaurant operator has agreed to pay $40,000 to resolve a lawsuit that claims its employees routinely harassed a gay server with homophobic epithets and taunted him about his sexuality. A federal judge on Thursday signed off on the settlement between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Mejia Corp., which does business as El …

Just in from the ACLU: The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled in favor of ACLU client Gavin Grimm, in his request for summary judgement in a sex discrimination lawsuit against the Gloucester County School Board. Statement from Gavin Grimm: “It is such a relief to achieve this closure and vindication from the court after …

The Washington Post reports: Last summer, when gay nightclub Town Danceboutique shuttered its doors, its patrons packed in for one last sweaty, nostalgic dance party — mourning the closing as the loss of a mainstay for D.C.’s LGBTQ community. Now, the owners are planning a resurrection for the beloved club: “Town2.0.” Its potential new home? A former Baptist church. Speculation …

Haaretz reports: Advertising companies have to run the anti-gay campaign ads created by the ultra-Orthodox-Zionist Noam party, the acting chairman of the Central Elections Committee Neal Hendel [photo] ruled Tuesday. Hendel determined that in their decision not to run Noam ads, some billboard companies had derogated from equality and freedom of expression, and caused “effective harm to [Noam’s] ability to …