LGBT News

The Associated Press reports: Some central Florida lawmakers said they were considering “all legislative, legal and executive options available” to stop business owners in a small town from voluntarily displaying rainbow decals in their windows indicating that they are “safe place” for LGBTQ+ people who feel threatened. Four Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to officials in Mount Dora two weeks …

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: Declaring an LGBTQ history month used to be routine at the Miami-Dade County School Board. Not anymore. “We have to uphold state law, and it’s very clear what that law is,” said board member Monica Colucci [photo] at Wednesday night’s committee meeting. “Matters of gender identity and sexual orientation are family issues and are parental rights, …

Knoxville’s NBC affiliate reports: U.S. District Court Judge J. Ronnie Greer issued a ruling blocking Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond from enforcing Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment Act,” at a festival celebrating the Blount County LGBTQ+ community on Saturday. Greer’s order said Desmond cannot enforce, detain, arrest or seek warrants to enforce the act and cannot interfere with Blount Pride’s …

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge said Thursday he will stop a new Texas law aimed at keeping sexually explicit materials off of school library shelves on the eve of the law going into effect, according to state attorneys and lawyers for a group who sued over the proposal. District Judge Alan D. Albright indicated during a hearing that …

The Texas Tribune reports: U.S. District Judge David Hittner temporarily blocked a new state law Thursday from going into effect that would have criminalized sexually-oriented performances in front of children or effectively banned some public drag shows. LGBTQ+ groups sued the Texas attorney general’s office, hoping to stop authorities from enforcing Senate Bill 12, which was signed by Gov. Greg …

The Omaha World-Herald reports: In the latest chapter of Nebraska’s debate over transgender rights, Gov. Jim Pillen has signed an executive order narrowing the definition of male and female to be based solely on biological sex. Pillen signed the executive order Wednesday, which he titled the “Women’s Bill of Rights,” dictating that males and females are defined specifically by their …

Knoxville’s CBS affiliate reports: Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond warned Blount Pride that the group could face prosecution for a pride event set to be held on Maryville College’s campus Saturday. In a letter sent to Blount Pride, law enforcement, Maryville College and city officials, Desmond said that he plans to enforce the Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act (AEA), …

The Associated Press reports: Police in Nigeria said Tuesday they detained at least 67 people celebrating a gay wedding in one of the largest mass detentions targeting homosexuality, which is outlawed in the West African country. The “gay suspects” were arrested in southern Delta state’s Ekpan town at about 2 a.m. on Monday at an event where two of them …

The New York Daily News reports: A Colorado man accused of tearing down LGBTQ rainbow flags by NYC’s historic Stonewall Inn during a Pride month hate crime was arrested Monday on charges police said were part of a pattern of attacks in the area. Cops charged Patrick Murphy, 25, of Denver, with committing criminal mischief as a hate crime for …

The Associated Press reports: California’s attorney general sued a Southern California school district Monday over its new policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns, the latest blow in an intensifying battle between a handful of school districts and the state about the rights of trans kids and their parents. Attorney General Rob …

New York City’s CW affiliate reports: Police are searching for a man accused of attacking a woman after he made an anti-LGBTQ remark toward her in Hudson River Park, according to the NYPD. Police said the victim was jogging in the park on Aug. 21 at 8:30 a.m. when the suspect approached her and made the remark. The man allegedly …

Reuters reports: A 20-year-old man has become the first Ugandan to be charged with “aggravated homosexuality”, an offence punishable by death under the country’s recently enacted anti-gay law, prosecutors and his lawyer said. The death penalty can apply in cases deemed “aggravated”, which include repeat offences, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly …

Brody Levesque reports at the Los Angeles Blade: On Saturday, the LGBTQ Center of Orlando’s Zebra Youth murals were defaced with Nazi and white Christian nationalist symbols and anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech. A spokesperson for the Orlando Police Department confirmed that an investigation is underway. The Center has been targeted before with incidents stretching back over a decade. In May of …

Florida Politics reports: A group spotlighting positive college environments for LGBTQ students just dropped two Florida universities from its rankings. Campus Pride excluded the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of North Florida (UNF) from its Best of the Best LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities list. That’s despite both colleges earning high marks in prior years. Instead, the college …

The Independent reports: Tributes are pouring in for a “beloved” California business owner who was shot dead by a man who complained about a Pride flag hanging at her store. Laura Ann Carleton, 66, was killed outside of her Mag.Pi clothing store in Cedar Glen by a suspect who made “several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside …

From the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times: This would be a good time to fly your multicolored Pride flag. If you don’t have one, this might be a good time to get one. Laura Ann Carleton flew the flag in front of her store in Cedar Glen, near Lake Arrowhead. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said a …

Los Angeles’s ABC affiliate reports: A beloved store owner in Lake Arrowhead was shot and killed during a dispute over a Pride flag, officials say. The shooting happened around 5 p.m. Friday at the Mag Pi clothing store on Hook Creek Road in Cedar Glen. When deputies arrived, they found 66-year-old Laura Ann Carleton with a gunshot wound. According to …

The Guardian reports: For the past two years, book banning has been on the rise in schools and libraries across the US, mainly due to far-right pressure. Now the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is trying to fight back. It recently launched the Banned Book Program, granting free nationwide access to books restricted in schools or libraries. It functions …

The Texas Tribune reports: Jamie Gonzales, a former program coordinator at the University of Houston’s LGBTQ Resource Center, hasn’t slept well ever since she heard that the center will be disbanded in accordance with Senate Bill 17, a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public higher education institutions. Although she knew the closure was coming after the bill …

“We’re having a lot of arguments in this country about transgender issues, and there are some — including the governor or this state — who believe that he should decide what can happen in your family, with your children and not. I don’t want him deciding what happens inside my family. “We have this group now, folks like Ron DeSantis …