NBC News reports: Not long after the U.S. military repealed its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen [on the right in the above photo] married her longtime partner, becoming one of the first American service members to be wed in a same-sex ceremony. On Monday, nearly five years to the day after the repeal was signed …
Read More »TRAILER: 4th Man Out
This was a big winner at film festivals earlier this year. Clip recap: Evan Todd (“Switched at Birth”) stars as Adam, a small-town, blue-collar mechanic who likes beer and hockey but surprises his buddies when he tells them he’s gay. Well meaning but perhaps fated to trip over themselves, hilarity ensues when said buddies all try to help Adam find …
Read More »CALIFORNIA: Hate Group Fails To Qualify Ballot Measure To Repeal Transgender Rights
Suck it, haters! Via the Associated Press: Backers of a proposed ballot initiative that sought to require transgender people to use the public restrooms that correspond with their biological sex say they have failed to qualify the measure for the California ballot. Monday was the deadline for the initiative’s sponsors to submit voter signatures to county election offices for verification. …
Read More »Adele: I Can’t Wait To Meet My Son’s Boyfriend
In her cover story interview with TIME Magazine, Adele looks forward to meeting her toddler son’s future girlfriend OR boyfriend. From the interview: Releasing the biggest album of the year comes along with a demanding promotional schedule, but Adele says having her son Angelo, 3, along for the ride actually helped. “The other day I was saying, ‘Oh God, I’m …
Read More »CHINA: Gay Man Sues For Marriage Rights
Radio Free Asia reports: A gay man in the central Chinese province of Hunan has filed a lawsuit against the government for refusing his application to marry his male partner, in a move that has been hailed as a major test case for LGBT rights in the country, his lawyer told RFA on Monday. Sun Wenlin, 26, filed the complaint …
Read More »FDA Lifts Lifetime Gay Blood Ban
The Associated Press reports: The nation’s three-decade-old ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men was formally lifted Monday, but major restrictions will continue to limit who can donate. The Food and Drug Administration said it is replacing the lifetime ban with a new policy barring donations from men who have had sex with a man in the previous …
Read More »Miss Austria As Conchita Wurst At Miss Universe
Lost in all the hoopla about Steve Harvey’s big “oops” moment last night is that Miss Austria dressed as drag performer and Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst during the national costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant. Austria’s The Local reports: While not the bookies’ favourite, Amina Dagi has captured global attention with her witty and elegant rendition of Austria’s national …
Read More »AUSTRIA: Court Rules Against Same-Sex Marriage
Last month lawyers for five children of gay parents sued the Austrian government, saying that the children were being stigmatized because their parents could not marry. Today the Administrative Court in Vienna ruled against the children, saying in part that children of unwed parents no longer face much social criticism. The lawsuit was not supported by HOSI Wien, Austria’s main …
Read More »ROMANIA: Parliament Rejects Civil Unions
On Friday the Romanian Parliament resoundingly defeated a civil unions bill put forward by Green Party president and 2009 presidential candidate Remus Cernea [INSET]. In 2013 Cernea introduced a similar bill, spurring a denouncement by the Orthodox Archbishop of Tomis, who said that Cernea is controlled by Satan. Cernea’s latest attempt failed after an MP suggested that civil unions would …
Read More »Pew: More Christians Now Accept Homosexuality
Via Pew Research: Acceptance of homosexuality is rising across the broad spectrum of American Christianity, including among members of churches that strongly oppose homosexual relationships as sinful, according to an extensive Pew Research Center survey of U.S. religious beliefs and practices. Amid a changing religious landscape that has seen a declining percentage of Americans who identify as Christian, a majority …
Read More »Six GOP Presidential Candidates Sign Hate Groups’ Pledge To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination
According to a press release issued today by Maggie Gallagher, six GOP presidential candidates have signed a pledge to sign the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) into law within the first 100 days of their administration. FADA would bar the federal government from acting against anyone who discriminates against LGBT Americans in the guise of “religious liberty.” The pledge was …
Read More »“Disgusted” Jurors At Kathryn Knott Trial: We All Believed She Punched The Gay Couple And Yelled Slurs
The jury forewoman and other jurors in Kathryn Knott’s gay-bashing trial say that they saw right through her lies. Philly.com reports: Three jurors spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. They all expressed sympathy for the victims — Zachary Hesse, 29, and his boyfriend, Andrew Haught, 28. Joan Bellinger, 67, the jury forewoman, said the jurors all believed Knott punched Hesse …
Read More »Busted Pharma Douche Resigns From His Company, But Now What About The Cost Of That AIDS Drug?
Via press release from the Human Rights Campaign: We hope that Martin Shkreli’s departure will mark the end of Turing Pharmaceuticals’ reckless price hikes on life-saving medications,” said Olivia Alair Dalton, HRC’s Senior Vice President for Communications and Marketing. “Turing’s interim CEO Ron Tilles should immediately roll back the company’s unconscionable 5,000 percent price hike on Daraprim, a crucial treatment …
Read More »NEW JERSEY: Ex-Gay Torture Group JONAH Agrees To Shut Down, Pay Damages To Former Clients
And the hits just keep coming! From the SPLC: New Jersey Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. granted a permanent injunction today after an agreement by both parties requiring JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) to shut down entirely and prohibiting founder Arthur Goldberg [PHOTO] and counselor Alan Downing from engaging in any form of conversion therapy commerce …
Read More »BREAKING: Kathryn Knott Found GUILTY
After three days of deliberations a Philadelphia jury today found Kathryn Knott guilty in the brutal September 2014 attack on a gay couple. The jury found Knott guilty of simple assault, two counts of reckless endangerment, and conspiracy. She was found not guilty of aggravated assault. Story developing…. UPDATE: Philly.com reports: A Philadelphia jury Friday found Kathryn Knott guilty of …
Read More »INDIA: Gay Sex To Remain Illegal
By a vote of 71-24, India’s Parliament today rejected a bill to decriminalize homosexual acts. The Hindustan Times reports: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s private member’s bill to decriminalise gay sex was rejected in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the former minister saying it was “surprising to see such intolerance”. Tharoor had proposed to amend Section 377 of the Indian …
Read More »Hillary Clinton Unveils Broad LGBT Rights Plan: End Ex-Gay Torture, Protect Trans, Support PrEP, More…
This is pretty major. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Hillary Clinton unveiled on Thursday her comprehensive policy platform aimed at continuing advancements in LGBT rights. The Democratic presidential front-runner said in a statement her proposal would build off the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this year in favor of same-sex marriage. But the document announces a few new initiatives, …
Read More »PHILADELPHIA: No Verdict In Second Day Of Jury Deliberations On Gay-Bashing Case
Via the Philly Voice: The jury in the assault trial of Kathryn Knott on Friday will deliberate a third day as it works to reach a verdict. Judge Roxanne Covington honored the jury’s request for dismissal around 4:20 p.m. Thursday, the second full day of deliberations following four days of testimony. Not long after beginning its second day of deliberations, …
Read More »AHF Launches Yet Another Anti-PrEP Campaign
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation today announced that it has placed full-page anti-PrEP ads in gay newspapers all over the country. The full ad is below. They write: A new advocacy ad by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) takes aim at the failure of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the use of Gilead Sciences’ AIDS treatment Truvada to prevent HIV transmission in uninfected …
Read More »MASSACHUSETTS: Court Rules That Catholic Prep School Broke Law In Gay-Hiring Retraction
ABC News reports: An all-girls Catholic prep school in Massachusetts violated state anti-discrimination law by rescinding a job offer to a man in a same-sex marriage, a judge ruled. Matthew Barrett was offered a job as Fontbonne Academy’s food services director in 2013, but the offer was withdrawn days later after he listed his husband as his emergency contact. Barrett …
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