LGBT News

Variety reports: Taylor Swift has donated $113,000 to the Tennessee Equality Project as it tries to stop state lawmakers from passing a series of bills she and others characterize as a “slate of hate.” The donation was announced by Chris Sanders, who leads the project. “She sees our struggle in Tennessee and continues to add her voice with so many …

Mass Live reports: Massachusetts therapists can no longer use a type of therapy that tries to alter a teenager’s sexual orientation. Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed into law a bill banning licensed health care professionals from providing conversion therapy to anyone under 18. Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., have already banned conversion therapy, according to the Human Rights Campaign. …

The Times of Israel reports: Leaders of Israel’s LGBT community blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday after the Likud leader told them during a meeting that coalition pressures prevented him from promising to promote equal rights. In a rare meeting with activists at his residence in Jerusalem, the prime minister said opposition from religious and ultra-Orthodox parties blocked him from …

The BBC reports: Brunei should be “chucked out” of the Commonwealth if it does not revoke its anti-LGBT laws, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said. Dozens of protesters chanted “shame on you” outside the Brunei-owned Dorchester hotel in London on Saturday. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had expressed “deep UK opposition” to the new laws to Brunei’s government. …

NBC News reports: Attorney General William Barr ordered an investigation into the Department of Justice’s treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff following a complaint from DOJ Pride, its LGBTQ employee resource group. In an April 4 letter to DOJ Pride released Friday, Barr said he was “troubled” by the group’s concerns, which were raised in a March 27 …

The Washington Blade reports: A group of more than 50 LGBTI rights advocates on Friday met with a high-ranking Vatican official and renewed their calls for the Catholic Church to condemn laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. ILGA World in a press release said the activists met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and presented him …

NPR reports: LGBT people are typically depicted as city and coastal dwellers. And those who live in rural America are often characterized as people yearning to escape rural life for more acceptance in urban areas. But a new study from the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that advocates for LGBT equality, shatters that stereotype. Between 2.9 million and 3.8 …

SBS News reports: A petition to ban Royal Brunei Airlines from landing in Australia has gathered steam as Virgin Australian cancelled staff travel on the airline following the country’s introduction of harsh Sharia law that includes the death penalty for gay sex. The petition, directed to the Minister and Shadow Minister for Transport, calls on the government to “commit to …

The New York Times reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a remarkable reversal to its policies on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on Thursday. The decision rolls back a 2015 policy that barred children living with same-sex couples from important religious practices like baby-naming ceremonies and baptisms. That policy also declared that church members in …

The Hill reports: A number of luxury hotels owned by the ruler of Brunei have deleted their social media accounts amid calls for a boycott over the island nation’s new law punishing homosexuality. The accounts were removed the same day that the law, which makes gay sex and adultery punishable by death and calls for stoning, took effect. The Dorchester …

The BBC reports: Brunei is introducing strict new Islamic laws that make gay sex and adultery offences punishable by stoning to death. The new measures, that come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of other crimes including punishment for theft by amputation. The move has sparked international condemnation. Brunei’s gay community has expressed shock and fear at the …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: After years and years of trying and failing, Utah finally has a working hate crimes law. In a public ceremony at the Utah State Capitol on Tuesday, Governor Gary Herbert signed Senate Bill 103 into law. “I think with the passage of Senate Bill 103, we are sending a message that …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Lori Lightfoot won a resounding victory Tuesday night to become both the first African-American woman and openly gay person elected mayor of Chicago, dealing a stinging defeat to a political establishment that has reigned over City Hall for decades. After waging a campaign focused on upending the vaunted Chicago political machine, Lightfoot dismantled one of its …

The Texas Tribune reports: After emotional testimony, a forceful show of opposition from leaders in the state’s business community and more than an hour of floor debate, the Texas Senate on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a sweeping religious refusals bill, a priority proposal for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that LGTBQ advocates have called a “license to discriminate.” The measure, …

“My beautiful, now-22 year old child told me last year that they were gender non-conforming. And over the last year, I have come to understand from a deeply personal mother’s perspective. I came to understand what their newfound freedom—it is the only way I can describe what has happened to my beautiful child — what their newfound freedom to wear …

The Associated Press reports: Tennessee lawmakers are working to become the latest state to ensure faith-based adoption agencies can refuse to place children with gay parents and other families because of their religious beliefs without facing any penalties. The GOP-dominant House overwhelmingly voted 67-22 in support of the proposal after a brief but tense debate. The bill must now pass …

Via press release: The first-ever hearing on the Equality Act set to take place this morning in the House Judiciary Committee. The crucially important, bipartisan legislation will finally provide clear, comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across the country. The Equality Act has unprecedented support and is backed by nearly 70% of Americans, hundreds of members of Congress, more than …

The Buffalo News reports: Air travelers hungry for a chicken sandwich can stop at a Chick-fil-A restaurant inside 28 airports around the United States, but not at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Nor will they any time soon. Delaware North Cos. on Friday apparently scuttled plans for the area’s second Chick-fil-A announced not even 24 hours previously by the Niagara Frontier …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: One of two men accused of using Grindr to lure gay men to a vacant apartment in Dallas where they’d be beaten, robbed and sexually assaulted has pleaded guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. Michael Atkinson, 24, pleaded guilty on Thursday to kidnapping and conspiracy charges in connection …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Ted Cruz is making common cause with actor George Clooney, known for his liberal brand of politics, in calling for an economic boycott of Brunei after the Southeast Asian country approved a measure that would make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning. In an op-ed published on Deadline Friday, the actor condemned the Bruneian …