LGBT News

Tucson.com reports: Gov. Doug Ducey won’t support extending state laws to prohibit discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation. “I’m against discrimination in all its forms,” the governor said Thursday. But Ducey said he does not think it’s necessary to provide people who are gay the same legal protections that exist for already established protected classes. The governor also …

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports: Candidates scheduled to appear are Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Sestak and Marianne Williamson. This is the first public event of the 2020 election cycle to focus exclusively on LGBTQ issues. The forum will be hosted by “Pose” star and activist Angelica Ross …

The New York Times reports: Ed Buck, a Democratic donor and activist whose West Hollywood apartment was the scene of two methamphetamine overdose deaths since 2017, was arrested on Tuesday after investigators said a third man suffered an overdose in his home last week. Mr. Buck, 65, who has not faced charges for the earlier overdoses but was subject to …

Indianapolis’s ABC affiliate reports: Josh Owens filed paperwork today to enter the 2020 Governor’s race. “I’m running for Governor now because I believe in an Indiana where teachers are paid what they deserve and where all are welcomed, respected and protected,” Owens said. “We need a leader who will ensure our state budget, policies and laws reflect a bold and …

Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate reports: A church’s actions are under investigation after a man said he was held down by congregants as they tried to pray away his homosexuality. Sean Cormie, 23, came out as gay in the spring. Since then, he said his family has asked him to go to church and bring his partner, Gary Gardner. On Sunday, …

From the Hollywood Reporter: RuPaul of RuPaul’s Drag Race continues to build his Emmy collection, winning best host of a reality or competition program for the fourth consecutive year on Sunday at the Creative Arts Emmys. As a result, RuPaul is now tied with Survivor host Jeff Probst’s record for most wins in the category. Backstage, RuPaul explained he was …

The Independent report: Former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas has revealed he is HIV positive – and hopes coming forward with his diagnosis can help break the stigma for others living with the virus. Thomas is thought to be the first UK sportsman to go public about living with the condition, and has revealed that he was driven to suicidal …

CNN reports: Vice President Mike Pence once argued that homosexuality was a choice during his fight in the early 1990s against local efforts in Indiana to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Pence’s opposition to LGBT equality has long drawn the scorn of gay rights activists and made him a champion of the Religious Right. But scrutiny of Pence’s record …

The CBC reports: An Edmonton LGBTQ gym has temporarily closed after it was the target of a series of blog posts, prompting an investigation from the Edmonton Police Hate Crimes Unit. In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday, Queerflex board members said their team had been maliciously identified in posts by Patriot Pride Canada Wide, a far right organization …

USA Today reports: Congrats are in order for Fox News contributor Guy Benson, who married his love Adam Wise in a Napa Valley ceremony Saturday. Benson, who hosts Fox News Radio’s “The Guy Benson Show,” told People that he and Wise first met in 2015 after Benson appeared on Fox News for what he called “the most terrifying television appearance …

Gay City News reports: The New York City Council is repealing its ban on so-called conversion therapy in response to LGBTQ advocates who voiced their satisfaction with the state’s version of the measure and acknowledged that legal challenges could derail the city law anyway. Out gay Speaker Corey Johnson [photo] confirmed to Gay City News that the city’s lawmaking body, …

NBC News reports: Exposure to “conversion therapy” — efforts by a secular or religious professional to change a transgender person’s gender identity — is associated with thoughts of and attempts at suicide, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Dr. Jack Turban, the study’s lead author and a resident physician in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, …

News 12 New Jersey reports: Uber has fired a driver who kicked out two Camden County women from her car after they kissed, the company confirmed in a statement. One of the women, Kristin Michele, recorded the incident and had posted it on her personal Facebook page – and it went viral. She says the driver told them to get …

NewJersey.com reports: An Uber driver kicked two Camden County women out of her car for being gay, according to the couple. One woman recorded the incident and posted it on her personal Facebook page. Kristin Michele and Jenn Mangan were in an Uber on their way to a Zac Brown Band concert in Camden on Friday night when Michele leaned …

Heavy.com reports: Former Project Runway star and fashion designer Chris March died of a heart attack Friday. He was 56. March was a fan favorite contestant for his larger-than-life personality and wildly outstanding wig creations. He appeared on Project Runway All Stars, before getting his on series on Bravo, Mad Fashion. He’s designed outfits for Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and …

Reuters Australia reports: Australia on Thursday proposed legislation to protect people who express their religious faith outside of the workplace, a few months after Rugby Union international Israel Folau was sacked for posting on social media that hell awaited “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers”. Attorney-General Christian Porter said the proposal would allow Australians to express their religious beliefs away from the workplace …

The New York Daily News reports: A high school in Bakersfield, Calif., is investigating an alleged incident of harassment against students who participated in a meeting of an LGBTQ club. According to multiple social media posts, students from Frontier High School were confronted and bullied at the first meeting of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) in the school year. After …

Via press release from the Human Rights Campaign: Today, HRC Foundation announced CNN as the exclusive broadcast partner for the organization’s LGBTQ-focused town hall for Democratic presidential candidates this fall. The evening will constitute the largest-ever audience for a Democratic presidential town hall devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) issues and will mark the first time in …

CNN Philippines reports: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea to legalize same-sex marriage in the country. The high court, in a statement Tuesday, said it junked the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by Atty. Jesus Falcis due to its “lack of standing” and for “failing to raise an actual, justiciable controversy.” The court, despite acknowledging that the 1987 …

Bloomberg Law reports: A recently appointed Trump Labor Department official with a history of advancing controversial conservative and faith-based causes in court has resigned after revelations that he wrote a 2016 Facebook post suggesting the Jewish-controlled media “protects their own.” Olson, 43, started at the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division Aug. 12 as a senior policy adviser, after being …