LGBT News

Fulton County, Georgia – whose county seat is Atlanta – has launched a no-cost PrEP clinic in collaboration with Gilead, the maker of Truvada. Matt Hennie reports at Project Q Atlanta: Fulton County health officials openly embraced PrEP for HIV prevention on Friday, launching a new clinic for the once-a-day pill to combat the virus among high-risk groups, including gay …

The same federal judge who last year struck down Nebraska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage today issued a permanent injunction against the now moot law. The move was largely a formality but Judge Joseph Bataillon’s order comes after gay parents complained that the state had barred them from listing both their names on the birth certificates of their children.

Not the Onion. Via The Guardian: Russian prosecutors have begun considering whether media coverage of the unexpected friendship between a male tiger and goat at a safari park in the country’s far east counts as gay propaganda. Novosibirsk lawyer Alexei Krestyanov complained to the prosecutor general last month that information about the animals living together could harm children by provoking …

The Perchy Bird reports: Following unanimous approval in both the Greenlandic and Danish Parliaments, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was given the ceremonial Royal Assent on Wednesday. The island’s new Civil Code will become gender-neutral and couples will begin marrying the day the law comes into force on April 1st. Greenland’s Bishop had been looking forward to couples being …

Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who is widely known as America’s craziest governor, yesterday stopped his state’s Department of Education from issuing rules intended to protect transgender students. The Associated Press reports: Rep. Matthea Daughtry of Brunswick says the rules are required by the 2013 Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in favor of Nicole Maines, a transgender student in Orono who …

The Guardian reports: The United Nations Postal Administration has released six new postage stamps promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The colourful stamps by artist and UNPA art director Sergio Baradat are also meant to celebrate the diversity of the gay community and marks the first time the global body’s post office has issued stamps with an …

In an interview with NBC’s New England Cable News, yesterday Donald Trump vaguely promised “forward motion” on LGBT issues should he be elected. Bay Windows reports: Just days before the crucial New Hampshire primary, Trump cast himself as a uniter on LGBT issues. O’Connell, who is also Bay Windows’ publisher, identified herself as a lesbian in a question that noted …

Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau has announced her bid for the US House. If elected, she will become the nation’s first openly gay Native American in Congress. The Great Falls Tribune reports: When Denise Juneau, the first Native American woman to win a statewide elective office in the country, introduced a woman she is dating at a Democratic political …

From Pierre’s NBC affiliate: A legislative panel has approved a bill that would bar the government from taking actions such as revoking the tax exempt status of an organization because of religious beliefs about marriage or sex. The House State Affairs committee approved the measure Wednesday. It heads to the full House. Republican Rep. Scott Craig says a person or …

Washington state GOP Rep. Graham Hunt has been pushing a bill that would allow businesses to restrict restroom use to people whose “genitalia match the sign on the door” – as one right wing site put it. Last night he resigned under “stolen valor” accusations. The Seattle Times reports: State Rep. Graham Hunt has resigned over accusations he exaggerated his …

Whoa. You’ll definitely want to watch this. Buzzfeed reports: Greens senator Robert Simms has ripped into former prime minister Tony Abbott for speaking to an ultra-conservative anti-gay group in the U.S. last week. “It advocates for the criminalisation of homosexuality and the abolition of anti-discrimination laws that protect the rights of LGBTI people,” he said. “It is a lunatic fringe …

It was hoped that the fake LGB (no T) rights bill that advanced last week in an Indiana Senate committee would be amended and corrected today before the full chamber. Instead it wasn’t heard at all and is now dead for the legislative session. Hate groups are doing a victory dance. From the Indianapolis Star: Senate President Pro Tem David …

Huge news out of India this morning. Video below. The BBC reports: India’s Supreme Court has agreed to revisit a previous judgement that upheld a law criminalising gay sex. Three senior judges said the 2013 ruling would be re-examined by a larger bench of judges, in a move that has been welcomed by activists. The judges said that the issue …

Karen Ocamb reports at Frontiers: AIDS ain’t over, and neither is the effort to find money and fame by charlatans promising a cure. Friday night, controversial libertarian Bill Maher gave a primetime spot on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher to an Australian doctor who claims he successfully treated HIV-positive actor Charlie Sheen through an alternative therapy. Maher …

Anti-LGBT groups and the Catholic Church have organized a massive rally taking place in Rome today against the civil unions bill under consideration in Parliament. The day began with Anonymous hacking the website of the group organizing the protest, replacing their banner with a “Love Is Love” message. The Guardian reports: Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Rome …

San Diego’s ABC affiliate reports: For the first time, the military spouse of the year nominee at Naval Base Coronado is gay. “I was the kid who didn’t want to be gay,” Brian Alvarado said. “I was scared.” But, there was no denying it. He met his husband, Matthew Alvarado, online two years ago. Matthew has been an active duty …

Last year the DNC created the LGBT Advisory Board to elevate “grassroots LGBT Democratic voices.” Today they announced that former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and longtime New York City HIV/AIDS activist Rev. José M. Román have accepted positions as the board’s co-chairs. Annise Parker:  “The LGBT community has made huge strides the past 7 years under Democratic leadership, but with …

Michigan Live reports: The proposal to add civil rights for LGBT people to Michigan’s constitution will no longer aim for the 2016 ballots, its organizer announced during a taping of public television show Off The Record Friday morning. “We are suspending our 2016 campaign, but I can assure you this is not the end of Fair Michigan,” said organizer Dana …

What a lovely track. NPR raves: The perfect music video makes me fall in love with a song by breathing life into its story. Here is a perfect music video. The band is Parlour Tricks, a band in love with radio pop, something I don’t always embrace, but that’s where the video worked it’s magic. I madly love the story …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: Parliamentary support for same-sex marriage reform appears to have reached critical mass and for the first time could pass in both houses, placing renewed pressure on Malcolm Turnbull to grant a free vote, rather than spend millions of dollars organising a non-binding public plebiscite. Mr. Turnbull has promised conservative colleagues he will honour the plebiscite …