LGBT News

GOP Sen. Ben Sasse Flees UF Students Protesting His Anti-LGBT Past, Sasse Is Sole Finalist To Lead University

The Gainesville Sun reports: In his first visit to campus as the sole finalist to be University of Florida president, U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse faced questions Monday on his conservative political positions — along with a protest that disrupted a question-and-answer session and ended with him speeding off in a police vehicle. UF announced last week that a presidential search …

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Haters Force Tennessee Pride Event Out Of Public Park

NBC News reports: After weeks of criticism, online threats from far-right groups and a legal complaint, the Jackson Pride Committee and the city of Jackson, which sits about 70 miles northeast of Memphis in Madison County, reached a compromise with state Republican representatives and community members who had complained about the pride festival’s drag show. The annual pride festival was …

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Montenegro Pride Goes On Despite Protests [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Several hundred people on Saturday joined an LGBTQ pride march in Montenegro, held amid strong opposition from the influential Serbian Orthodox Church in the small conservative Balkan country. Montenegro’s 10th pride event was dubbed “No more buts,” reflecting demands that more be done to stem hate speech and harassment of LGBTQ community despite huge steps that …

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Comedian Judy Tenuta Dies At Age 72 [VIDEO]

Variety reports: Popular stand-up comic Judy Tenuta, known to her fans as “The Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” died of ovarian cancer on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. She was 72. Known for her acerbic humor, expletive-laden jokes, raspy voice and accordion, she was among the performers who fueled the popularity of live comedy in clubs, including the …

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POLL: Voters Prefer Senators Who Back Marriage Bill

Changing America reports: Senators that don’t support the Respect for Marriage Act or are undecided on the bill could find themselves in a tough spot come November, with voters in key battleground states more likely to support candidates that have backed the measure to codify same-sex and interracial marriage. Majorities of voters in nine states – Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, …

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Trump Judge Rules For Texas AG Against Trans Workers

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge has ruled that Biden administration guidelines requiring employers to provide protections for LGBTQ employees go too far, in a win for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who brought suit against the rules last fall. The rules were first issued after the landmark ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020, in which the …

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Trump Judge Rejects Challenge To “Don’t Say Gay” Law

The Tampa Bay Times reports: A federal judge has rejected — at least for now — a lawsuit challenging a controversial new law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor issued a 25-page order dismissing the case, finding that plaintiffs did not show they had legal standing. Winsor, however, said …

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New Law Makes CA Sanctuary For Trans Kids, Parents

Changing America reports: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday signed into law a bill to make the state a refuge for transgender youth and their families. The measure, effective Jan. 1, is designed to shield families with transgender youth under 18 from being criminally prosecuted if they travel to California to obtain gender-affirming health care for their children from …

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72% Of Utahns Back Marriage Equality: “Seismic Shift”

The Deseret News reports: As the Senate considers legislation to protect same-sex marriage, a new poll shows nearly three-fourths of Utahns support legal same-sex marriage. The new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey found 72% of residents agree that marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The poll …

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Guilty Plea In Grindr Kidnapping And Murder Attempt

From the Justice Department: Chance Seneca, 21, of Lafayette, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays to one count of kidnapping. According to his plea agreement, Seneca admitted that on June 20, 2020, he used Grindr, a dating application for gay and bisexual men, to kidnap and attempt to murder H.W., a gay man. Specifically, Seneca acknowledged …

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CDC: Early Data Promising On Monkeypox Vaccine

The New York Times reports: Americans who received a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine were significantly less likely to be infected by the virus over the summer than those who did not, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that offered a limited glimpse of the shot’s protectiveness. The findings, gleaned …

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Pentagon Study: Fears Of Gay Troops Were Unfounded

The Military Times reports: A decade after the services first allowed gay and lesbian troops to serve openly, a report from the Joint Staff found that concerns about combat effectiveness and unit cohesion were basically unfounded. That’s the conclusion of a 196-page document published in 2021 by the Joint History and Research Office, recently brought to light by the Palm …

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Italian Activists Fear Erosion Of LGBTQ Rights Is Coming

Reuters reports: The LGBT community has “very real fears” after a conservative bloc dominated by the far-right won Italy’s general election, a leading gay rights campaigner told Reuters. The nationalist Brothers of Italy group, led by Giorgia Meloni, emerged as the largest party in the ballot and will lead the most right-wing government in Rome since World War Two. Meloni, …

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Cuba Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage In National Vote

The BBC reports: Cuba has voted to legalise same-sex marriage in a national referendum. About two-thirds of the population voted to approve reforms in a new Family Code, which will also allow surrogate pregnancies and give gay couples the right to adopt children. It marks a big moment for Cuba, which saw gay people persecuted and sent to work camps …

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Vandals Smash Windows At Gainesville Pride Center

Gainesville’s ABC affiliate reports: On Saturday morning, members of the Pride Community Center in Gainesville received a call from a real estate office in the same complex about their building being vandalized. “She told me that she was just informed by somebody that came to her office that the pride center had been vandalized and that the windows were all …

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Michigan “Grindr Cannibal” Pleads Guilty To Murder

Michigan Live reports: Mark David Latunski, the Shiawassee County man accused of killing and dismembering 25-year-old Kevin Bacon in December 2019, has pleaded guilty. Latunski, 52, appeared before Judge Matthew J. Stewart of the 35th Circuit Court Thursday, Sept. 22, and pleaded guilty as charged to open murder and mutilation of a body. A degree hearing will be held on …

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Cuba Urges “Yes” Vote In Gay Marriage Referendum

Reuters reports: Cubans will cast ballots this Sunday on whether to approve a new ‘family code’ that would legalize gay marriage and boost women’s rights, with the government urging citizens to vote “yes” despite anger over the worst economic crisis in decades. The Communist-run government – long the vanguard of Latin America’s left – has in the last week flooded …

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UMass Schedules Pride Day For Game Against Liberty U

Hemant Mehta reports at Only Sky: On Saturday, October 8, the University of Massachusetts football team will host Liberty University. The game would likely have flown under the radar of most college football fans… if not for the fact that UMass announced over the weekend that the Liberty game will coincide with “Pride Day.” UMass doesn’t have a particularly good …

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World Cup Captains Seek To Wear Rainbow Armbands

The Associated Press reports: FIFA came under pressure Wednesday from several European soccer federations who want their captains to wear an armband with a rainbow heart design during World Cup games in Qatar to campaign against discrimination. France and Germany, the last two World Cup champions, were among eight of the 13 European soccer teams going to Qatar who joined …

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World Cup Host Qatar Urged To End Gay Death Penalty

The Associated Press reports: Qatar’s ambassador to Germany was urged Monday to abolish his country’s death penalty for homosexuality at a human rights congress hosted by the German soccer federation two months before the Middle East country stages the World Cup. Fan representative Dario Minden switched to English to directly address the Qatari ambassador, Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al …

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