LGBT News

NBC is reviving the glitzy 80s detective show Hart To Hart but with a gay couple as its leads. Deadline has more: Written by Christopher Fife (Revenge, Private Practice), based on the Sidney Sheldon-created original, the new Hart To Hart is described as a modern and sexy retelling of the classic series that focuses on “by the book” attorney Jonathan …

SameSame reports: Although a public vote on marriage equality will be unnecessary, costly and divisive, new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has today confirmed he’s sticking to the Liberal party room’s plan to put it to the people after the next election. Whether or not there’ll be a change to the Marriage Act will “be determined by a vote of the …

“This year President Barack Obama Called for End to ‘Conversion’ Therapies for Gay and Transgender Youth. I am in full support of defining this in the law for what it is — abusive and fraudulent. Out of that commitment — I have officially submitted a first draft of legislation that would ban the abusive practice of sexual conversion therapy for …

Elton John yesterday claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin telephoned him after Elton called for a sit-down over Russia’s anti-gay policies. Elton wrote on Instagram: “Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia.” Buzzfeed has more: The post …

Yesterday TMZ reported that R&B star Chris Brown has returned a $12,500 deposit to the organizers of Atlanta Black Gay Pride, who last week claimed that Brown failed to show at their lesbian dance party after learning that a handful of gay men were at the venue. TMZ’s claim prompted Brown to fire back on Instagram: “Yall gotta stop with …

In an interview with Buzzfeed reporter Dominic Holden, Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason describes his boss as a “very sweet lady” who doesn’t hate anybody but who has put him “right in the middle” of a national controversy. Mason says that he will continue to issue marriage licenses “because of the judge’s orders and for personal reasons.”  Holden writes: …

From Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome: “This is the first time in Australia’s history that both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition have supported marriage equality, giving us an unprecedented opportunity to achieve the reform. We will seek an urgent meeting with Mr Turnbull to chart a way forward on a reform that he knows is …

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and Attorney General Jim Hood have filed a federal court motion which declares that their state’s ban on adoption by gay couples is constitutional. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: Hood, a Democrat, states that the same-sex couples who brought the lawsuit challenging the Mississippi provision banning them from adopting children together “are not likely to succeed” …

The Associated Press reports: Texas has issued an estimated 2,500 marriage licenses to same-sex couples since the practice was legalized, nearly 6 percent off all marriage licenses statewide, according to state estimates. Although applications no longer include gender identifiers, officials base the estimate on “what we can assume from the applicants’ names,” Carrie Williams, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of …

A Italian study has linked homophobia with psychoticism in a research paper that should have been titled “Duh.” Via the International Business Times: Led by researchers at the University of L’Aquila in Italy, the team asked 551 university students, aged between 15 and 30, to complete several psychometric tests to examine the psychological factors that could correlate with homophobia. Using …

82 year-old Donald Hallman is among an estimated 114,000 men and women who were booted from the military over their homosexuality between WWII and the end of DADT. Hallman appeared on CNN yesterday to demand that his record be cleared of its “dishonorable” notation. The Dallas Morning News agrees in an editorial published today which supports a bill pending before …

Late last year the voters of Fayetteville, Arkansas repealed a city council-approved and comprehensive LGBT rights bill after a vicious campaign spearheaded by the Duggar family. Today Fayetteville voters rejected hate and by a 53-47 margin approved an imperfect new LGBT rights bill. The Democrat-Gazette reports: In a reversal of a similar special election last year, Fayetteville voters resoundingly ratified …

According to a report published today by the Georgia Voice, R&B star and felony-convicted domestic abuser Chris Brown failed to appear at an Atlanta Pride event because there were a handful of gay men present in the crowd of 4000 lesbians. Georgia Voice editor Darian Aaron writes: Brown failed to show up at The Georgia Freight Depot nightclub as thousands …

Excellent new web campaign from Guinness Beer. Clip recap: Gareth Thomas: Never Alone tells the story of how the former Wales captain’s greatest fear wasn’t the opposition he faced on the pitch, but the fear of rejection from everything he had known, because of his sexuality. The film celebrates the courage of Gareth, and most importantly, the empathy shown by …

Yesterday dozens of activists demonstrated outside the federal courthouse in downtown Brooklyn in protest against the raid on Rentboy.com headquarters. The New York Daily News reports: Chanting “Keep your laws off my body,” gay activists marched Thursday outside Brooklyn Federal Court demanding that prosecutors drop prostitution charges against seven employees of the Rentboy.com website. About 70 protesters — men and …

Suck it, Kim Davis! The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: James Yates and William Smith Jr. paid $35.50 and filled out some paperwork early Friday to become the first couple to get a marriage license in Rowan County since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage June 26, prompting a license ban by County Clerk Kim Davis. With Davis in jail on …

From the Facebook event page: LGBT and Civil Liberties Advocates Denounce Arrests of Rentboy.com Staff, Call for Dropping Charges and Decriminalization of Sex Work. RALLY: Thurs., Sept. 3rd, Noon, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn LGBT activists, civil rights organizations, the HookUp Collaborative and supporters will hold a demonstration this Thursday, Sept. 3rd, at Noon at …

Wolf Sterling, owner of Pint, Jersey City’s only gay bar, claims that workers from the city-contracted trash removal service have threatened his staff with violence unless they are given free alcohol in return for hauling away his recyclables. The Jersey Journal first reported on the incident several days ago: Sterling said the two men approached one of his bartenders in …

Denouncing “East Coast culture,” GOP South Dakota state Rep. Roger Hunt plans to draft a law requiring a “visual inspection” of genitalia to determine gender identity. Via the the Rapid City Journal: The battle over how to officially determine someone’s gender arises from a controversy over whether transgender high school students can declare their own gender when participating in sports. …

The editorial board of the New York Times is “baffled” by Homeland Security’s raid on Rentboy.com.  An excerpt: The criminal complaint is so saturated with sexually explicit details, it’s hard not to interpret it as an indictment of gay men as being sexually promiscuous. “Based on my investigation,” Susan Ruiz, a Homeland Security special agent, wrote in the complaint, “I …