LGBT News

Politico reports: A California state senator has formally asked state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to investigate whether the powerhouse AIDS Healthcare Foundation is fraudulently misusing savings from a federal drug-discount program designed to help poor patients. The request comes from state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-Chula Vista), who has urged an investigation into the politically powerful organization that has dumped upwards …

The Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson today asked Trump if he’s OK with his administration’s recent steps to make it easier to discriminate against LGBT workers.  His response: “Well, you know, I just got an award, or an endorsement yesterday from the exact group. You saw that? They gave me the endorsement yesterday. I’ve done very well with that community and some …

The Jerusalem Post reports: The Palestinian Authority has banned members of the Palestinian LGBTQ community from carrying out any activities in the West Bank. The ban came after the grassroots group Al-Qaws for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, (Arabic for the bow), which engages and supports Palestinians who identify as LGBTQ, was planning to hold a gathering for …

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson writes for the Ottawa Citizen: I’m gay. There – I said it; or rather, wrote it. Those two words took me almost four decades to utter, but as they say, “Better late than never.” As I look back over the years, there were some telltale signs that I wasn’t straight. As a grade 7 student, I …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: The Trump administration on Friday took one of its most aggressive steps yet to legalize anti-transgender discrimination by telling the Supreme Court that federal law allows firing workers solely for being transgender, arguing a Michigan funeral home could fire a transgender woman because she wanted to wear women’s clothing on the job. Although the …

The New York Post reports: Actress Faye Dunaway relentlessly berated her gay personal assistant on play “Tea at Five,” calling him “a little homosexual boy” before he was fired for complaining, a new lawsuit alleges. Michael Rocha says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that he began working for the Broadway-bound production — from which Dunaway was eventually fired — …

The Deseret News reports: Ed Smart, the father of kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart, shared in a Facebook message with family and friends Thursday that he is gay, divorcing his wife and doesn’t see a place for himself in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In “one of the hardest letters I have ever written,” Smart wrote that “I …

The BBC reports: Matt Healy, the frontman of Brit Award-winning band The 1975, has defied Dubai’s anti-LGBTQ laws by kissing a male audience member during a gig. Fan footage showed Healy venturing into the crowd and kissing a man on the lips, to loud cheers, on Wednesday. He is then seen returning to the stage and declaring: “I love you …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: The Trump administration on Wednesday formally proposed a new rule to let businesses with federal contracts cite religious objections as a valid reason to discriminate against their workers on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, LGBTQ status, and other characteristics — thereby skirting worker protections created by past presidents. But the Trump …

The BBC reports: A bus driver has been suspended after he allegedly refused to drive a bus supporting Pride events. He reportedly told passengers in Norwich: “This bus promotes homosexuality and I refuse to drive it.” Rainbow numbers were used on the bus in a nod to the Pride flag. Go East Anglia, which runs Konectbus, said the driver had …

France 24 reports: For the first time, an openly gay candidate has thrown his hat in the ring for a presidential election in Tunisia. Mounir Baatour heads the country’s main LGBT rights group. His bid marks a test for post-revolutionary Tunisia’s fledgling democracy. Baatour, a lawyer at Tunisia’s highest court and the president of Shams, a group seeking the decriminalisation …

The Associated Press reports: A Virginia restaurant operator has agreed to pay $40,000 to resolve a lawsuit that claims its employees routinely harassed a gay server with homophobic epithets and taunted him about his sexuality. A federal judge on Thursday signed off on the settlement between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Mejia Corp., which does business as El …

Just in from the ACLU: The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled in favor of ACLU client Gavin Grimm, in his request for summary judgement in a sex discrimination lawsuit against the Gloucester County School Board. Statement from Gavin Grimm: “It is such a relief to achieve this closure and vindication from the court after …

The Washington Post reports: Last summer, when gay nightclub Town Danceboutique shuttered its doors, its patrons packed in for one last sweaty, nostalgic dance party — mourning the closing as the loss of a mainstay for D.C.’s LGBTQ community. Now, the owners are planning a resurrection for the beloved club: “Town2.0.” Its potential new home? A former Baptist church. Speculation …

Haaretz reports: Advertising companies have to run the anti-gay campaign ads created by the ultra-Orthodox-Zionist Noam party, the acting chairman of the Central Elections Committee Neal Hendel [photo] ruled Tuesday. Hendel determined that in their decision not to run Noam ads, some billboard companies had derogated from equality and freedom of expression, and caused “effective harm to [Noam’s] ability to …

The Christian Post reports: Former pastor and evangelical author Joshua Harris demonstrated his support for the LGBT community by marching in Vancouver’s annual Pride Parade less than a month after announcing he no longer considers himself a Christian. On August 4, Harris, former pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, shared several Instagram photos of himself participating in the …

Reuters reports: Advertisements by Coca-Cola around a music festival in Hungary that promote gay acceptance have prompted a boycott call from a senior member of the conservative ruling party. The posters, in tandem with the week-long “Love Revolution” event starting on Wednesday in Budapest, show gay people and couples smiling with slogans like “zero sugar, zero prejudice”. On Sunday, Fidesz’s …

Reuters reports: Poland’s Catholic Church has doubled down on the anti-gay rhetoric that has become the nationalist ruling party’s dominant theme in recent weeks, drawing a rebuke from liberal politicians who compared an archbishop’s remarks to incitement to genocide. In a sermon given to mark the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising by Polish resistance fighters against Nazi occupation, the …

Charlotte’s ABC News affiliate reports: On Friday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law Executive Order No. 97, which directs the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services to ensure no state tax money is used for conversion therapy for LGBTQ children. The order prohibits any medical or mental health provider receiving state or federal funds allocated to the …

People Magazine reports: Mario Lopez is facing backlash over comments he made in a recent interview that suggested it was “dangerous” for parents to label their kids transgender. In a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Lopez apologized for his remarks. “The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were,” …