LGBT News

Last night was what some Eurovision fans call “Super Saturday” in which five more nations chose their entry for this year’s contest in Stockholm. Below are the winning performances from Finland, Norway, Moldova, Slovenia, and Hungary. I quite like Finland and Slovenia this year. The final video below is a ranking from one of Eurovision’s many rabid fanboys. As you …

Primarily thanks to residents of Bern and Zurich, today Switzerland’s voters very narrowly rejected a tax bill which contained a “Trojan horse” section which defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Swiss Info reports: What had seemed like a sure “Yes” in January became a close contest after an energetic “No” committee argued that the terms of …

From the New York Post: Manhattan jurors were shown a cellphone video Thursday of homophobic killer Elliot Morales confessing to his crime before trying to lick the sidewalk in front of cops. “I fucking shot him dead!” Morales shouts, cackling, as several NYPD officers restrain him face-first on the pavement. “Diagnosis dead, doctor!” he continues, laughing to the police. “They …

From the Daily Beast: Two months and two billion box office dollars later, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has reaped huge returns for Disney with its most progressive episode yet. Now that Daisy Ridley’s Rey and John Boyega’s Finn have given the Star Wars franchise its first female Jedi and black lead, respectively, does its fearless director J.J. Abrams see …

Things just continue to get worse in Indonesia. J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: On Friday, Indonesia’s former Information and Communications Minister Tifatul Sembering, tweeted, “A saying of the Prophet [Mohamed]: Whomever you find committing the acts of the community of Lot (homosexual) should be put to death.” Sembering is now a member of Parliament from the Islamist Prosperous Justice …

From the Charlotte News & Observer: N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday he’s exploring a possible special legislative session to deal with a controversial provision of Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance. Moore and others object to the so-called bathroom provision that would allow transgender people to use the restroom of their choice, depending on the gender with which they identify. …

Via press release: At today’s Apple shareholder meeting in Cupertino, California, shareholders will vote on a resolution submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a shareholder, requiring Apple’s management to prepare a report identifying Apple’s criteria for operating in regions with significant human rights violations. Apple operates in 17 nations in which homosexual activity is illegal. In four …

Some of the most ardent proponents of PrEP have warned that few medications are 100% effective. Today, sadly, comes proof. Poz.com reports: Researchers have for the first time documented a case of an individual contracting HIV, a multi-drug resistant strain, while apparently adhering well to the daily regimen of Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The scientists concluded that it …

By a vote of 173-71, moments ago the Italian Senate approved civil unions. The bill now moves to the House of Deputies where easy passage is expected. LGBT groups are calling the win a bitter victory as it comes without the formal legalization of stepchild adoptions by same-sex parents. Big thanks to JMG reader Andrea for help with the translations …

The Italian Senate has begun its hearing on the hotly-contested civil unions bill, which no longer contains a provision for stepchild adoption by same-sex parents. Watch below. Italian speakers, help us out please. If the bill passes in the Senate today, it moves to the House Of Deputies where it’s expected to gain easy approval and then be signed into …

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 …