LGBT News

Agence France-Presse reports: Costa Rica legalised same-sex marriage on Tuesday, becoming the first Central American country to do so and sparking an emotional response from rights campaigners as the first weddings were held overnight. Celebrations were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special program about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online after a court ruling …

Entertainment Weekly reports: Pixar’s movie lineup still leaves much to be desired in terms of LGBTQ inclusion, but a short film released on Friday shows there is the capacity to bring these stories to life through tearjerking animation. Out, the latest Pixar short released through Disney+’s SparkShorts series, arrived this week with the story of Greg as he moves in …

ABC News reports: Russian state news agencies have reported that Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian leader of Russia’s southern region of Chechnya, has been transported to a Moscow hospital with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. “Ramzan Kadyrov has been flown to Moscow with suspected coronavirus. He is currently being monitored by doctors,” an unidentified source in the Moscow medical community told Tass agency, …

UK-based Muslim news outlet 5 Pillars reports: The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has said homosexuality goes against “the noble morals of all divine religions” and that all missions in Iraq had to “adhere to the laws of the country,” after foreign embassies flew the rainbow LGBT flag in honour of the International Day Against Homophobia. The European Union, the World Bank …

Agence France-Presse reports: Albania’s psychologists have banned so-called “conversion therapy”, which tries to change the sexual orientation of young LGBT people, a move hailed on Saturday by the country’s rights groups. The decision by Albania’s order of psychologists on Friday is “significantly important for LGBTI adolescents”, the gay rights association Pink Embassy said in a statement. All registered therapists in …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: The Republican candidates seeking to lead one of the reddest states in the nation have all agreed to appear in a forum on LGBTQ issues. Equality Utah, a political advocacy organization for LGBTQ rights, will host the GOP candidates for governor in an online forum on Friday, FOX 13 confirmed. Thomas …

CNN reports: A top adviser and lawyer for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has a history of pushing anti-gay positions, including linking the legalization of same-sex marriage to bestiality and pedophilia. Jenna Ellis, an attorney who previously served as the director of public policy at the socially conservative James Dobson Family Institute, has also repeatedly attacked the Supreme Court’s 2003 …

Metro Weekly reports: NYC Pride has announced a 50th anniversary broadcast special featuring Dan Levy, Janelle Monáe, Billy Porter, and a host of other celebrities and LGBTQ activists. The special, in conjunction with WABC Channel 7, will take place on Sunday, June 28, and replaces the annual Pride March, which was canceled last month due to COVID-19. Co-hosted by RuPaul’s …

NBC News reports: Aimee Stephens, the Detroit-area funeral home worker whose firing led to a Supreme Court case that could decide the employment rights of millions of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, died Tuesday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which was working on her case. She was 59. Stephens had kidney disease for several years and required lengthy dialysis …

The Guardian reports: Brazil’s supreme court has overturned rules that limit gay and bisexual men from donating blood in a decision considered a human rights victory for LGBT+ people in the country. The move came as more nations review restrictions on blood donations imposed during the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, with some countries applying blanket bans, some have waiting periods after …

The Bangkok Post reports: Forced exorcism is a common story for gay and transgender people in the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation, where a conservative shift has seen the community increasingly targeted in recent years. Homosexuality is legal everywhere in Indonesia except conservative Aceh province which adheres to strict Islamic laws. But it is still widely believed that being gay …

Pink News reports: On Thursday evening, May 7, the Bundestag passed a law which completely bans any so-called “therapy” that aims to change the sexual orientation of minors, and the crime will carry a prison sentence of up to one year. According to Badische, conservative German health minister Jens Spahn [photo] stressed: “Homosexuality is not a disease. Therefore the term …

The Washington Blade reports: The DC Eagle, the District’s oldest continuously operating gay bar that first opened in 1971, informed its employees Monday night in an online meeting that it was going out of business after learning the building it rented was sold and it would have to move out by September, according to Eagle manager Miguel Ayala. Ayala, who …

NBC News reports: Trenton Councilwoman Robin Vaughn targeted openly gay Mayor Reed Gusciora on Saturday in a 54-minute call to update legislators on the number of coronavirus cases in the state, according to audio published by The Trentonian.  Vaughn’s remarks came after Gusciora asked her to explain a statement she made on social media about his support of “do nothing …

From Anderson Cooper’s Instagram account: I want to share with you some joyful news. On Monday, I became a father. This is Wyatt Cooper. He is three days old. He is named after my father, who died when I was ten. I hope I can be as good a dad as he was. My son’s middle name is Morgan. It’s …

According to multiple reports on social media, longtime gay nightclub DJ Warren Gluck has died at the age of 65. No cause of death is yet known. From his bio: Warren has played almost every major party in the U.S. from coast to coast, including the GMHC Morning Party on Fire Island, The Pines Party, The Saint-at-Large White and Black …

NBC News reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday threw his weight behind Turkey’s top Muslim cleric, who caused a storm by claiming homosexuality “brings disease and causes this generation to decay.” In his first sermon during the holy month of Ramadan on Friday, Ali Erbas also maintained that hundreds of thousands of people every year are exposed to HIV …

The SFist reports: It’s official: Up Your Alley and Folsom Street Fair will continue on as digital events for 2020, with plans underway to champion each happening’s celebrated sex-positivity and sense of community — from behind a screen. It doesn’t take having a Ph.D. in epidemiology to realize that now’s not an opportune time to plan large-scale physical gatherings, especially …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Meryl Streep, Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski donned bathrobes and guzzled drinks for their performance of “The Ladies Who Lunch” during a special tribute to Stephen Sondheim that aired online Sunday night. The trio also were seen imbibing on wine and other libations during their performance of the song from Sondeim’s Company. Streep even mixed her …

Via press release: Billy Porter, Pete & Chasten Buttigieg, Rosie O’Donnell, Jonathan Van Ness, Brian Michael Smith, Ross Mathews, and Tyler Oakley will join GLAAD’s livestream event, “Together in Pride: You are Not Alone,” tonight at 8pm ET on GLAAD’s YouTube channel and Facebook Live. Billy Eichner and Lilly Singh will co-host the event, which will include special performances from …