LGBT News

The world has known Mr. Smithers is gay for more than a quarter-century, but he’s finally going to formally come out this season. Executive producer Al Jean: “In Springfield now, most people know he’s gay, but obviously Burns doesn’t. We deal with that in two episodes. We actually do a lot with Smithers this year; he gets fed up with …

The Advocate reports: He rose to fame thanks to The Daily Show, came out in 2011 and now works as a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, has a recurring role on The Good Wife and his own show on the Cooking Channel. But Mo Rocca’s newest claim to fame is that he is the first out man to deliver a …

Via the Associated Press: South Dakota on Friday agreed to pay $242,000 to attorneys for same-sex couples who challenged the state’s ban on gay marriages. Attorney Josh Newville said the deal was finalized Friday, bringing to a close the lawsuit filed in federal District Court in May 2014. “I’m glad we don’t have to fight over it anymore,” he said. …

Via press release: Today the Human Rights Campaign announced that Vice President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote address at the 19th annual HRC National Dinner on the evening of October 3, 2015, in Washington, DC. In addition, HRC announced that seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney will present HRC’s National Vanguard Award to Academy Award nominated actress Ellen Page …

The Associated Press reports: The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling that a Portland bar owner must pay about $400,000 in damages to patrons he told to stay away. The state investigated a bar formerly known as the P Club after the owner left a voice message for one of the Rose City T-Girls, a group of transgender customers …

Today the Human Rights Campaign sent a letter to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman [photo] in which they call for an investigation of price-gouging by pharma CEO Martin Shkreli.  HRC head Chad Griffin writes: Daraprim is a lifesaving treatment for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection impacting patients with compromised immune systems including those who are pregnant or living with HIV. …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A transgender woman live-tweeted what she described as a “denigrating” experience that caused her to miss a Monday evening flight out of Orlando International Airport because she was detained by federal security officials. Shadi Petosky, a writer and producer at a small Los Angeles entertainment company, tweeted that she was pulled out of line at the …

But he won’t say by how much. NBC News reports: The pharmaceutical company boss under fire for increasing the price of the drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent said Tuesday he will lower the cost of the life-saving medication. Martin Shkreli did not say what the new price would be, but expected a determination to be made over the …

Yesterday we learned that pharma CEO Martin Shkreli has raised the price of a vital AIDS drug by 5500%. Folks have gone digging into Shkreli’s past and there’s quite a story there. US Uncut reports that Shkreli was recently accused of hacking the email account of a rival pharma executive and threatening his family. They write: The report, taken by …

Raw Story reports: Appearing on Bloomberg TV, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company that recently hiked the price of a drug used for critically ill infants and AIDS patients by 5,500 percent, defended the price increase by promising better things to come for future patients. Martin Shkreli, 32, the founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, recently purchased the rights …

At an event honoring his late mother, today Prince William condemned homophobia and anti-LGBT bullying. From the Daily Mail: During an hour-long training session William vowed that if he saw anyone bullying a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender‎ person he would step in and confront the abuser after comforting the victim. ‘I would try to confront, to tackle the person. …

There will be a briefing on bisexuality today at the White House. Via press release: GLAAD today announced its participation in the second annual Bisexual Awareness Week 2015 (BiWeek) in conjunction with BiNet USA, America’s oldest advocacy organization for bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer-identified and unlabeled people. BiWeek takes place from September 20th – 26th with the 23rd as official ‘Celebrate …

Via Buzzfeed: Despite lower than anticipated ratings, E! has renewed I Am Cait for a second season, a source close to the show has told BuzzFeed News. Season 1 of I Am Cait, which documented Caitlyn Jenner’s transition, ran for eight episodes during the summer, concluding earlier this month. The source told BuzzFeed News that Season 2 could premiere in …

Clip recap: “Who’s at risk if trans people have equal access to restroom facilities? In Houston and across the country, Mike Huckabee and friends love to claim that nondiscrimination bills mean that ‘men could use the women’s bathroom,’ which simply isn’t true. Here’s how to push back against the transphobic lie that men are sneaking into women’s rooms — and …

CBS New York reports: Two New York legislators are leading a campaign to designate Stonewall Inn as the first national park honoring LGBT history. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler made their announcement Sunday in front of the Greenwich Village tavern that was the scene of a 1969 uprising at a key moment for the nascent gay rights …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Mayor Nutter, if given the chance, plans to speak with Pope Francis during the papal visit to Philadelphia about barriers faced by the LGBT community in the United States and to ask the pope to “end judgment” of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Catholics. In a statement Friday, Nutter’s office summarized the message he hopes to …

JMG reader Mike writes from Scotland to tell us that he and his partner were out “enjoying the last of the sunshine” today when they came upon a street preacher that was screaming about how gay marriage has ruined the economy. And then a bagpiper arrived. The Courier reports: A St. Andrews busker has been hailed after he drowned out …

Big news from the Washington Post: President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services. Fanning’s nomination is the latest in a series of actions taken by the administration to advance the …

According to Frito-Lay, all 10,000 bags of rainbow Doritos have been sold and no more will be produced, at least not this year. The promotion netted $100,000 for the It Gets Better Project, which will receive 100% of the receipts. Meanwhile all of Teabagistan continues to quiver in impotent rage and rain down vile abuse on the company’s social media …

Rep. Dina Titus (photo) calls the vote a slap in the face to gay veterans. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: A measure that would have changed federal law to reflect that gay, lesbian and bisexual veterans are entitled to spousal benefits narrowly failed in a House committee on Thursday — thanks in part to a Democrat who voted …