LGBT News

TODAY: Biden To Sign Marriage Bill In WH Ceremony

NPR reports: President Biden will sign into law Tuesday a bipartisan bill that will codify same-sex and interracial marriages with a large celebration on the South Lawn of the White House. “Today, Congress took a critical step to ensure that Americans have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said in a statement Thursday after the House passed …

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Club Q Survivors To Testify Before House Committee

NBC News reports: Less than a month after a deadly shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, the House Oversight Committee will host survivors for a hearing on violence and threats against LGBTQ people. The Dec. 14 hearing will include testimony from bartender Michael Anderson and from James Slaugh, both of whom survived the Club Q shooting, as well as …

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Louisiana Elects Its First Openly LGBTQ State Official

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Progressive policy advocate Davante Lewis defeated three-term Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere III on Saturday, handing the incumbent and utilities that backed him a stunning loss with the help of big money from environmental groups who want to shake up the commission. Lewis, 30, who lives in Baton Rouge and works for the left-leaning Louisiana …

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Debunking The Club Q Shooter’s “Nonbinary” Claim

NBC News reports: Xavier Kraus, who said he lived next door to the suspect and the suspect’s mother from August 2021 to September 2022, said he believes the claim that Aldrich is nonbinary is “a total troll on the community, and a total troll on the system.” Aldrich, he said, never used they/them pronouns with him or mentioned being nonbinary. …

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Oregon Library Refuses To “Segregate” LGBTQ Books

Oregon Public Radio reports: In an unusual sight, people packed into the Crook County Library on Thursday night for a meeting of its board. The topic at hand had drawn the standing room crowd: namely, whether or not to segregate LGBTQ-friendly children’s books into a separate section. By the end of the night, the crowd had spoken overwhelmingly in support …

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Pennsylvania Enacts LGBTQ Discrimination Protections

Yahoo News reports: Pennsylvania formalized nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people after a regulatory board approved new definitions of sex, race and religious creed in the commonwealth’s anti-discrimination regulations. The new regulatory changes provide a more comprehensive definition of the terms “sex,” “religious creed” and “race” as protected classes so that victims of discrimination can better understand how they are protected …

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LIVE VIDEO: House Makes Final Vote On Marriage Bill

The Associated Press reports: The House is set to give final approval Thursday to legislation protecting same-sex marriages in federal law, a monumental step in a decadeslong battle for nationwide recognition of such unions that reflects a stunning turnaround in societal attitudes. A law requiring all states to recognize same-sex marriages would come as a a relief for hundreds of …

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Pelosi Takes Victory Lap On Her LGBTQ Rights Legacy

Speaker Nancy Pelosi writes for the Washington Post: In my first speech on the House floor, I declared that “we must take leadership of course in the crisis of AIDS.” During my first speakership, we erased the egregious “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy from the books — ensuring gay and lesbian Americans can openly serve their country. We advanced justice …

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Historic NYC Gay Bar Julius’ Granted Landmark Status

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to designate Julius’ Bar in the Village as an individual landmark. In the 1960s, the state liquor authority did not allow people to be served alcohol if they were openly gay. “In 1966, we had something called the sip-in,” Julius’ Bar manager Nick Gabriellini said. …

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Club Q Shooter Charged With 305 Criminal Counts

The Denver Post reports: The suspect in the mass shooting at an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs last month was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts, including first-degree murder, bias-motivated crimes and attempted murder. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, had been arrested and held on suspicion of five counts of first-degree murder and five hate-crime charges immediately after the Nov. 20 …

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Putin Signs Law Expanding Ban On LGBT “Propaganda”

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law that significantly expands restrictions on activities seen as promoting LGBT rights in the country. A 2013 law banned what authorities deem to be spreading “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. The new law expands that ban to spreading such information to people aged 18 and older. …

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LIVE AUDIO: Supreme Court Hears Anti-LGBTQ Case

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a major case pitting LGBT rights against a claim that the constitutional right to free speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws in a dispute involving an evangelical Christian web designer. The justices are set to hear Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith’s appeal seeking an exemption from a Colorado …

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DOJ: Armed Felon Menaced Staff At Minnesota Gay Bar

From the Justice Department: Minneapolis man has been charged in a federal criminal complaint for illegal possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, on November 28, 2022, Minneapolis Police officers responded to a call that a person at 19 Bar, located near downtown Minneapolis, had pulled out a gun after being asked to …

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FDA To Ease Rules For Blood Donation By Gay Men

Axios reports: The Food and Drug Administration is weighing a series of moves to make it easier for gay and bisexual men and other individuals to donate blood amid a nationwide blood shortage. The FDA is considering easing blood donor screening restrictions for men who have sex with men that originated during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. An option …

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Laura Ingraham: Trans People Are “Deeply Anti-Human”

“Crusaders for climate change, abortion, euthanasia, gender fluidity, they all lead — eventually, their thinking — to the devaluing of human life. “At its core, being anti-human means being anti- truth because it involves the questioning or denying of objective facts, including those at the very heart of our existence.  “The cult of gender deviancy collapses into meaningless slogans and …

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Owner Says Community Wants Club Q To Reopen

NPR reports: The owner of Club Q, the Colorado Springs, Colo., LGBTQ nightclub where a deadly mass shooting occurred nearly two weeks ago, said that although exact plans are still being decided, the club will reopen. Club Q was a haven for LGBT+ people in the conservative city, and despite the tragedy, work is being done to ensure it continues …

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US Census Report: 1.2 Million Same-Sex Households

Changing America reports: The number of same-sex households in the U.S. surpassed 1 million for the first time, according to new census data. There were about 1.2 million same-sex households in 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. About 710,000 of those households were married, while 500,000 were unmarried. The percent of same-sex households included in the American household population as …

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Japanese Court Upholds Marriage Ban, But Opens Door

The BBC reports: A Tokyo court has upheld a ban on same-sex marriage in Japan, but also said that the ban was a violation of human rights. The compensation case was brought by four couples who claimed the law was discriminatory. Japan is currently the only G7 nation that does not recognise same-sex marriage. Campaigners have welcomed the ruling as …

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BREAKING: Senate Approves Marriage Bill In Final Vote

The Associated Press reports: The passage of the legislation with support from both parties is an extraordinary sign of the shifting politics on the issue and a measure of relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. Senate Democrats are moving quickly, …

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LIVE VIDEO: Senate Makes Final Vote On Marriage Bill

NPR reports: Lawmakers are moving forward with the vote Tuesday afternoon after securing essential Republican support during a procedural vote on Monday. With bipartisan support, the legislation is expected to clear the Senate Tuesday, then head back to the House where it is expected to be passed quickly and sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law. The …

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