LGBT News

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: If congregants of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville want to remain members, they have to sign a statement vowing to oppose LGBTQ+ freedoms. Senior Pastor Heath Lambert has said such freedoms and the sexual revolution are a threat to First Baptist and he’s giving members until March 23 to sign the statement. Lambert posted a video …

The Associated Press reports: Gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships will no longer be forced to abstain from sex to donate blood under federal guidelines to be proposed in coming days, ending a vestige of the earliest days of the AIDS crisis. The planned relaxation of restrictions by the Food and Drug Administration follows years of pressure by blood …

From the Justice Department: Chance Seneca, 21, of Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced today to 45 years in federal prison for kidnapping and attempting to murder a gay man as part of a months-long scheme to kidnap and murder gay men. The court rested its sentence on many factors, including its determination that the defendant intentionally targeted the victim and other …

The New York Daily News reports: New research on LGBTQ parents in Florida found that a majority of those surveyed considered leaving the state over its controversial law restricting classroom instruction on LGBTQ issues before the fourth grade. Nearly six out of 10 parents surveyed by the Williams Institute said that the enacting of the legislation commonly known as “Don’t …

From the Facebook page of the Colorado Springs brewery co-owned by Rich Fierro, one of the heroes in the Club Q mass shooting: First and foremost, we are grateful to all of you who have genuinely supported us! We would like to address the timeline in regards to the orders. The Club Q incident happened the night of Nov.19. We …

Richmond’s ABC affiliate reports: A bill adding language in the state code legalizing same-sex marriage passed in the Virginia Senate with a bipartisan vote. The bill introduced by state Sens. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and Jennifer Boysko (D-Loudoun) would give religious organizations and clergy members the right to refuse to perform any marriage. The 40-member chamber voted 25-12 to pass the …

The LGBTQ news site Qburgh Magazine reports: Republican Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano plans to introduce legislation that would ban drag shows on public property or in areas where minors could see, effectively banning Pride events across Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh Pride. In a memo published Tuesday, Mastriano plans to categorize drag shows as “adult-oriented business” which would put restrictions such …

The Daily Beast reports: Chaya Raichik, the owner of the controversial Libs of TikTok account, shared a photo of herself with Donald Trump on her personal Twitter account late Tuesday. “Bumped into this guy and he invited me for dinner,” Raichik captioned the post of the pair giving a thumbs-up to the camera while seated at a dining table. “He …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said during an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in …

76 Crimes reports: The president of the West African nation of Niger is laying the groundwork for enacting harsh anti-homosexuality laws in his country, where same-sex intimacy is currently legal. He proposes the death penalty for people in same-sex marriages. Mohamed Bazoum, president of Niger, is preparing for a newly established committee of experts to develop the new anti-homosexuality laws. …

ABC News reports: As more than a dozen states consider passing anti-transgender legislation this year, North Dakota lawmakers rejected a bill Friday that would have made people pay $1,500 each time they refer to themselves or others with gender pronouns different from the ones they were assigned at birth. “The main purpose of the bill was to eliminate state funding …

Chalkbeat Indiana reports: House Bill 1608, introduced by Rep. Michelle Davis, would prohibit all Indiana schools and their third-party vendors from providing any instruction in kindergarten through third grades with the intent to “study, explore, or inform” students about six topics: gender fluidity, gender roles, gender stereotypes, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Another bill, filed in the Senate …

The Arizona Mirror reports: After listening to nearly an hour of testimony from transgender constituents and advocates imploring them to reject a proposal that would restrict preferred pronoun use in schools, Republicans on the Senate Education panel voted to pass the bill on Wednesday. The measure, Senate Bill 1001, would bar teachers from using the pronouns or names that a …

The Mississippi Free Press reports: A bill that would prohibit transgender minors from accessing trans-inclusive health care could become law after the Mississippi House passed it by 78-28 vote. The bill, known as the “Regular Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act,” would prohibit standard treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty-blocking drugs by barring public funds from going to “any entity, …

Click Orlando reports: A pair of Orlando businesses that cater to the LGBTQ community were targeted by a vandal who shattered several windows before running away. According to police, a man was caught on surveillance video outside District Dive and Southern Craft in the 2400 block of South St. around 3:41 a.m. on Wednesday. Both businesses are located in the …

The New York Daily News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is seeking information on university students who have sought gender-affirming treatment, according to a survey released Wednesday. In a request sent to 12 state universities, top officials with the Republican governor requested data on the number of students who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who have received …

Bismarck’s NBC affiliate reports: A controversial bill has been introduced by lawmakers involving language surrounding transgender people. If someone involved in an organization that receives state funding, including public schools, violated the proposed law, they would receive a fine of $1,500. “Say, they’re a boy, but they come to school and say they’re a girl. As far as that school …

NBC News reports: The only HIV vaccine in a late-stage trial has failed, researchers announced Wednesday, dealing a significant blow to the effort to control the global HIV epidemic and adding to a decadeslong roster of failed attempts. Known as Mosaico, the trial was the product of a public-private partnership including the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical giant Janssen. It …

The Telegraph reports: A law to ban all conversion therapy will be announced as soon as Monday, as Rishi Sunak reverses Boris Johnson’s decision to scale back the intervention. Mr Johnson vowed to ban homosexual conversion therapy when prime minister, but decided not to do the same for transgender conversion therapy. This week, government ministers are set to make clear …

Winston-Salem’s NPR affiliate reports: For the first time, “GAYPRIDE” is available as a vanity license plate in North Carolina. It’s one of over 200 terms that were removed from the state’s prohibited plates list after a review late last year. As recently as last year, the “Do No Issue” list included “GAYPRIDE,” “LESBIAN,” and “QUEER” – entries that prompted DMV …