LGBT News

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee is withholding $110,000 of funding from the Madison County Library System allegedly on the basis of his personal religious beliefs, with library officials stating that he has demanded that the system initiate a purge of LGBTQ+ books before his office releases the money. Tonja Johnson, executive director for the Madison County …

The Oregonian reports: The Oregon Court of Appeals for a second time Wednesday upheld a ruling by the state civil rights division that found that a Gresham bakery illegally discriminated against a same-sex couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake in 2013. However, the court found that the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries did not exhibit religious …

NBC News reports: Long-running “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider lost in an episode that aired Wednesday, ending the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show’s history. Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, was defeated by Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, who raked in $29,600 in the latest game, besting Schneider, at $19,600. She left the show with nearly $1.4 …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis said on Wednesday that parents of gay children should not condemn them but offer them support. He spoke in unscripted comments at his weekly audience in reference to difficulties that parents can face in raising offspring. Those issues included “parents who see different sexual orientations in their children and how to handle this, how to accompany …

Penn Live reports: Chambersburg today became the first municipal authority in the commonwealth to repeal protections for residents against discrimination based on their sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity. By a 7-3 Republican-majority vote, the Chambersburg Borough Council made good on its pledge, repealing the ordinance citing a host of reasons, including redundancy in the ordinance and lack of muscle …

The Associated Press reports: France has a new law that bans so-called conversion therapies and authorizes jail time and fines for practitioners who use the scientifically discredited practice to attempt to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ people. The National Assembly approved the new law unanimously, voting 142-0 on Tuesday evening. The legislation includes criminal penalties for …

People reports: Manfred Thierry Mugler, the celebrity-favorite fashion designer behind his eponymous line, has died. He was 73. The French designer’s team announced Mugler’s passing Sunday, sharing a black square to his personal Instagram profile with the tragic news, which was written in both English and French. “We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on …

Penn Live reports: A central Pennsylvania borough is poised to become the first municipality to repeal anti-discrimination safeguards that protect residents against discrimination based on their sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity. The plan by Chambersburg Borough Council to vote Monday to rescind the anti-discrimination ordinance comes only four months after the borough ratified the ordinance in October. The political …

USA Today reports: André Leon Talley, the visionary former creative director of Vogue magazine, died Tuesday. He was 73. Talley’s Instagram account also issued confirmation early Wednesday, noting that over five decades the “international icon was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers.” Talley …

Fox News reports: Thousands of clergy in North America devoted their sermons on Sunday to affirming biblical sexual morality in response to a new Canadian law some warn could effectively criminalize such teachings. An initiative begun by Liberty Coalition Canada and promulgated in the United States by Pastor John MacArthur of Los Angeles secured the support of more than 4,000 …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Jorge Diaz-Johnston, whose body was found Saturday in a Jackson County landfill, was a plaintiff in a historic lawsuit that ended with Miami-Dade becoming the first county in the state to legalize same-sex marriages. Jorge was last seen Jan. 3 in the 2800 block of Remington Green Circle near his workplace, according to the Tallahassee Police …

Reuters reports: Israel on Tuesday lifted restrictions barring same-sex couples and single men from becoming parents through surrogacy within the country, upholding a Supreme Court ruling to end the ban. “It is a historic day for the LGBTQ struggle in Israel,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz [photo] said at a news conference, announcing the ministry had issued a circular granting equal …

Another action-packed year has come and gone for this here website thingy, which in a few months will mark its 18th anniversary. In this post last year, I wrote, “I want to sincerely thank all of you, longtime JMG flying monkeys and newbies alike, for being here during what for many of us will be the most memorable year of …

The Associated Press reports: An advertising-technology billionaire has formally resigned his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and rebuked the faith over social issues and LGBTQ rights in an unusual public move. Jeff T. Green has pledged to donate 90% of his estimated $5 billion fortune, starting with a $600,000 donation to the LGBTQ-rights group Equality …

The Washington Blade reports: The Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper, has secured an officially designated seat in the White House James S. Brady briefing room, marking the first time an LGBTQ publication has been afforded the honor. The White House Correspondents Association, which is responsible for the seating assignment in the briefing room, made the announcement Friday as …

The New Jersey Advance reports: Eight years after court decisions made same-sex marriage legal in New Jersey, both houses of the state Legislature on Monday passed a bill that would officially enshrine gay couples right to wed into state law. The state Senate voted 35-4 on Monday afternoon. The Assembly passed it by a 53 to-10 vote with four abstentions …

Metro Weekly reports: Jeffrey McCall, the founder of “ex-gay” group Freedom March, has confessed to having multiple hookups with men since last year. McCall claims to have lived as a gay male sex worker, and then as a transgender woman named Scarlett, before renouncing his sexuality and gender identity and founding Freedom March. But in a post last month on …

The Guardian reports: Some obituary notices open with the grand achievements of a life well-lived, or the tender details of a person’s passing with loved ones at their side. The death in El Paso, Texas, of Renay Mandel Corren, however, was marked in somewhat more unorthodox fashion. “The bawdy, fertile, redheaded matriarch of a sprawling Jewish-Mexican-Redneck American family has kicked …

Reuters reports: France’s parliament voted on Tuesday to ban so-called conversion therapy, joining a handful of countries that have taken steps to outlaw practices that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the French legislation, people offering LGBT+ conversion therapy could be jailed for up to two years and fined 30,000 euros ($33,810), with even tougher …

The Associated Press reports: Norway’s data privacy watchdog on Wednesday fined gay dating app Grindr 65 million kroner ($7.16 million) for sending sensitive personal data to hundreds of potential advertising partners without users’ consent — a breach of strict European Union privacy rules. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority said it imposed its highest fine to date because the California-based company …