LGBT News

CNN reports: President Joe Biden on Tuesday took the rare step of weighing in on a controversial Florida bill that would ban certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, telling LGBTQ kids that he has their back. The message from the White House on Tuesday condemning Republicans for advancing the bill was a rare step as …

The Associated Press reports: A bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers that includes the Republican House speaker announced Monday they were introducing legislation that would for the first time protect gay and transgender people from discrimination by businesses, landlords and employers. The proposal is backed by many business and faith leaders, but opposed by a powerful social conservative group. Even with …

CNN reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared Monday to voice support for a controversial state bill that would ban certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. DeSantis, a Republican, said it was “entirely inappropriate” for teachers and school administrators to have conversations with students about their gender identity, saying that, in some schools, children are told …

NDTV reports: A Parliamentary panel on Friday said the use of ‘GAY’ code for Gaya airport is inappropriate for the holy city and asked the government to make all efforts to change the code. The Committee on Public Undertakings, in its first report tabled in Parliament in January 2021, had recommended changing the code of Gaya airport from ‘GAY’ and …

The Miami Herald reports: Four young men [photo above] did not act in self-defense when they beat up two gay men during a South Beach gay-pride celebration, a Miami judge ruled on Friday. Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan declined to dismiss the battery charges against Juan Carlos Lopez and three others who’d been charged in the high-profile attack in April …

ABC News reports: Gay and lesbian adults are more likely to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 than heterosexual adults, federal officials said Thursday. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 85.4% of gay and lesbian Americans above age 18 had received at least one vaccine dose as of October 2021. By comparison, 76.3% of heterosexuals …

USA Today reports: The percentage of Americans who say they are satisfied with the acceptance of gay and lesbian people in the country has reached a new peak at 62%, according to a poll released Wednesday. Gallup’s annual Mood of the Nation poll asks people about their satisfaction with aspects of U.S. life and policy areas, ranging from the overall …

NBC News reports: Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints. Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and …

Agence France-Presse reports: A former Ugandan ethics minister who championed a bill to introduce the death penalty for same-sex relationships and sought to regulate what women could wear died on Saturday, officials said. Simon Lokodo — a one-time Catholic priest ex-communicated by the church, whose homophobia attracted global condemnation — died aged 64 in a hospital in Geneva. A watered-down version …

Tampa’s ABC News affiliate reports: The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said its undercover detectives have been using dating apps to track down a number of people suspected of buying and selling drugs in the area. A 6-month undercover sting, called “Swipe Left for Meth,” yielded more than 60 arrests, the agency said. Detectives also obtained warrants for eight people. The …

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee is withholding $110,000 of funding from the Madison County Library System allegedly on the basis of his personal religious beliefs, with library officials stating that he has demanded that the system initiate a purge of LGBTQ+ books before his office releases the money. Tonja Johnson, executive director for the Madison County …

The Oregonian reports: The Oregon Court of Appeals for a second time Wednesday upheld a ruling by the state civil rights division that found that a Gresham bakery illegally discriminated against a same-sex couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake in 2013. However, the court found that the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries did not exhibit religious …

NBC News reports: Long-running “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider lost in an episode that aired Wednesday, ending the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show’s history. Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, was defeated by Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, who raked in $29,600 in the latest game, besting Schneider, at $19,600. She left the show with nearly $1.4 …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis said on Wednesday that parents of gay children should not condemn them but offer them support. He spoke in unscripted comments at his weekly audience in reference to difficulties that parents can face in raising offspring. Those issues included “parents who see different sexual orientations in their children and how to handle this, how to accompany …

Penn Live reports: Chambersburg today became the first municipal authority in the commonwealth to repeal protections for residents against discrimination based on their sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity. By a 7-3 Republican-majority vote, the Chambersburg Borough Council made good on its pledge, repealing the ordinance citing a host of reasons, including redundancy in the ordinance and lack of muscle …

The Associated Press reports: France has a new law that bans so-called conversion therapies and authorizes jail time and fines for practitioners who use the scientifically discredited practice to attempt to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ people. The National Assembly approved the new law unanimously, voting 142-0 on Tuesday evening. The legislation includes criminal penalties for …

People reports: Manfred Thierry Mugler, the celebrity-favorite fashion designer behind his eponymous line, has died. He was 73. The French designer’s team announced Mugler’s passing Sunday, sharing a black square to his personal Instagram profile with the tragic news, which was written in both English and French. “We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on …

Penn Live reports: A central Pennsylvania borough is poised to become the first municipality to repeal anti-discrimination safeguards that protect residents against discrimination based on their sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity. The plan by Chambersburg Borough Council to vote Monday to rescind the anti-discrimination ordinance comes only four months after the borough ratified the ordinance in October. The political …

USA Today reports: André Leon Talley, the visionary former creative director of Vogue magazine, died Tuesday. He was 73. Talley’s Instagram account also issued confirmation early Wednesday, noting that over five decades the “international icon was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers.” Talley …

Fox News reports: Thousands of clergy in North America devoted their sermons on Sunday to affirming biblical sexual morality in response to a new Canadian law some warn could effectively criminalize such teachings. An initiative begun by Liberty Coalition Canada and promulgated in the United States by Pastor John MacArthur of Los Angeles secured the support of more than 4,000 …