LGBT News

Coconuts Jakarta reports: We seriously do think that Indonesian politicians are competing to see who can say the craziest, most scaremongering thing possible about LGBT issues. After Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu recently declared that the pro-LGBT movement was more dangerous than nuclear warfare, today we have Tangerang Mayor Arief Wismansyah saying that feeding your baby canned milk and instant noodles …

South Dakota’s Senate Judiciary Committee this morning killed a bill which would have legalized anti-LGBT discrimination by businesses. The bill’s chief sponsor was state House Rep. Scott Craig (above left). Lambda Legal celebrates but cautions that other anti-trans bills remain active in South Dakota:  “The Senate Judiciary Committee did the right thing today. House Bill 1107 was a harmful and …

Speaking earlier this week at the University of Virginia, Ohio Gov. John Kasich rejected anti-LGBT discrimination by Christian-owned businesses. From the anti-gay Christian News: Kasich, who identifies as an Anglican, and personally believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, was asked a variety of questions ranging from the topics of climate change, religious freedom, immigration and creationism. …

From the Sydney Morning Herald: After a wait of nearly 40 years, “78er” Julie McCrossin​ says she was thrilled and emotional to learn that the NSW [New South Wales] government is to apologise for the discrimination and mistreatment that she and other gay rights activists suffered in 1978. The commentator and broadcaster said she understood that she and a group …

As I reported yesterday, confessed killer Elliot Morales is finally on trial for the May 2013 hate crime slaying of Mark Carson, a black gay man Morales shot to death on a West Village corner. Morales, who is representing himself in the trial, yesterday questioned Carson’s companion on the night of the murder, declaring that the pair had instigated the …

This being a small town in Texas the couple has no legal recourse. From the Longview News-Journal: A same-sex couple says they were saddened last week when a Longview bakery refused to bake their wedding cake, and the business owner said it would have offended her faith for the business to be linked to the event. Ben Valencia and Luis …

And what a kiss it was! The CBC reports: The first kiss for a returning sailor after a long deployment at sea is a sweet and memorable tradition. But in what is believed to be a first for the Royal Canadian Navy, that time-honoured ceremonial kiss was between two men. There were loud cheers today when Master Seaman Francis Legare …

As reported here several times, LGBT refugees from Syria and other nations continue to face abuse and violence in Europe’s burgeoning refugee centers. Yesterday authorities in Germany did something about it. Via The Local: Germany will on Tuesday open a shelter for homosexual refugees with space for more than 120 people, the association behind the project said. Speaking at a …

A fascinating development via ArsTechnica: As long as there’s lingering HIV, patients must keep taking the drugs, which cause side-effects, make for high prescription bills, and raise the threat of drug resistance. At least, that’s the case for now. In a new study, scientists reveal a possible way to literally hack those lurking viruses out of a person’s DNA strands. …

Before the Charlotte City Council even voted to approve its LGBT rights law last night, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory had vowed “immediate intervention” if it were to pass. Tonight McCrory and state GOP leaders are moving to make that promise come true and then some. Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Gov. McCrory said legislators …

Last month the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court told Alliance Defending Freedom to take a hike when they affirmed New York’s public accommodations laws in the case of an upstate wedding venue that had been fined for turning away a same-sex couple. Today the ADF announced that they are surrendering. The Associated Press reports: The owners of …

The trial has finally begun for Elliot Morales, who bragged and laughed to arresting officers after gunning down a gay black man, Mark Carson, on a West Village corner in May 2013. The New York Daily News reports: The best friend of a 32-year-old gay man killed by a hate-filled sicko in the West Village in 2013 tried in vain …

Remember the nutters from Australia’s “Stop Safe Schools” group whose protest backfired, resulting in a financial windfall for an LGBT prom? Now those haters are celebrating after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ordered an investigation into the entire program. From the Sydney Morning Herald: Turnbull has ordered a review into a controversial school education program aimed at promoting acceptance of gay, …

Deal is being pressured by Georgia’s business leaders but he hasn’t said what the changes might be. Via the Associated Press: Georgia’s governor indicated Monday that changes are coming to a bill allowing faith-based organizations to refuse service to gay couples without repercussion. Supporters say it’s intended to prevent religious adoption agencies, schools and other organizations from losing licenses, state …

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports: A Republican lawmaker introduced a resolution on Saturday to amend the state Constitution to prevent cities and towns from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances that extend protections to the LGBT community. Sen. Craig Blair, the Majority Whip, introduced Senate Joint Resolution 13, which would prohibit a city or town from adopting any ordinance that creates a protected classification …

Dominic Holden recaps last night’s insanity at Charlotte’s hearing on LGBT rights: More than 100 people packed a council hearing before the vote. Self-identified Christian conservatives, many furious, expressed fear the nondiscrimination law would allow transgender people — and men posing as trans — to sexually assault women in restrooms. They also worried about their religious freedom, saying the bill …

After hours of public testimony which included the usual ranting plus some literal screaming about Jesus, and an actual half-rapped anti-LGBT poem presented by a 12 year-old, tonight the Charlotte City Council approved an LGBT rights ordinance. From the Human Rights Campaign: Tonight, TurnOut! Charlotte, a partnership of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Equality North Carolina, and MeckPAC, hailed the …

Via press release from Pride Toronto: Pride Toronto, the city’s most vibrant and inclusive arts and cultural festival and North America’s largest Pride celebration, unveiled today its 2016 Pride Month theme, announcing to the world that this June, “YOU CAN SIT WITH US.” The campaign for Canada’s first-ever Pride Month, features Canada’s top political leaders: noted “sexiest man alive” and …

The invocation was just given at the Charlotte City Council meeting where a hotly-contested LGBT rights ordinance is about to be heard. Haters and activists have packed the galley. Watch live at this link and weigh in below with us.

Two weeks ago I launched a twice-monthly column for the website of Britain’s Pride Life magazine, a quarterly LGBT rights and lifestyle magazine. Today’s second installment picks up on last week’s rundown of the leading GOP presidential candidates, their varying anti-LGBT positions, how they fared in the early primaries, and their unified calls to block President Obama from appointing the …