Religion

As I’ve reported here several times, openly gay US Ambassador Wally Brewster is under attack in the Dominican Republic, where anti-LGBT activists and the Catholic Church have launched a joint campaign calling for his resignation for spreading “homosexual indoctrination.” Today US House Democrats launched a tweetstorm in support of Brewster using the hashtag #ImWithWally. Brewster stands accused in part because …

UPDATE: Deal will VETO the bill. Earlier, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Gov. Nathan Deal has a 10 a.m. press conference on his calendar. Chances are good that it’s about HB 757, the “religious liberty” bill. No doubt, by now you’ve heard about that email from Chris Riley, chief of staff for the governor, to Spiro Amburn, top aide to House …

“San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee says he is banning all city employees from job-related travel to North Carolina in protest of the action NC Gov. Pat McCrory and the General Assembly just took to preserve basic privacy and protect its citizens from perverts and sexual predators. Can you believe it? I think Mayor Lee needs to focus on the problems …

“I have seen this man’s life. I have watched this man. I have prayed about this man. I have prayed about it by myself, out loud, in quiet, with my family, with my staff, and I happen to believe that Ted Cruz actually was anointed for this time. Would there not be someone that was in the pool that might …

Last night Buzzfeed News reporter Dominic Holden appeared on PBS NewsHour to deliver a succinct recap of North Carolina’s nasty new anti-LGBT law. Watch below. Holden: What the city council did in Charlotte was very common in the United States. There are about 200 cities with ordinances like these that ban discrimination against LGBT people. What the lawmakers did in …

Via press release: Leaders in North Carolina achieved more in a day than many state leaders have been able to accomplish in years. In a single-day special session, legislators passed and the governor signed into law protections for the privacy of children and women using school and public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms in the Tar Heel state. Governor Pat …

Via press release: Today, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina, and Equality North Carolina condemned North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signing into law a sweeping anti-LGBT measure, HB 2, and announced that the organizations are exploring legal challenges to the discriminatory law. “We expect the ACLU’s and Lambda Legal’s Legal Help Desks will light …

From the Associated Press: Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 into law shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, overturning Charlotte’s controversial transgender ordinance. McCrory’s office released a statement Wednesday night, saying “the basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor …

“Atlanta is a great location for the Super Bowl but the NFL has come out against Georgia’s religious exemptions bill, threatening that it could impact Atlanta’s consideration in the Super Bowl selection process for 2019 and 2020. LGBT forces and corporate super powers are using this threat to try to stop the bill that would protect pastors from performing same-sex …

Every North Carolina Senate Democrat just walked out of the chamber rather than vote on the bill which legalizes anti-LGBT discrimination. The remaining GOP Senators then approved the bill 31-0. Having passed the state House earlier by a more than 3-1 margin, the bill now goes to the desk of GOP Gov. Pat McCrory, who will surely sign it. UPDATE: …

A committee of the North Carolina Senate has begun hearing the anti-LGBT bill just passed by the state House. Watch below. The full Senate is expected to hear the bill shortly afterwards. The House version overturns all LGBT rights statewide. UPDATE: The bill has passed and the full Senate is now hearing the bill.

On Saturday, HRC head Chad Griffin asked Hollywood to boycott Georgia if the state’s anti-LGBT “religious liberty” bill becomes law. Today Griffin got his first result. Via the Hollywood Reporter: Disney and its Marvel Studios film unit will not film future movies in Georgia if a controversial bill that critics contend would legalize anti-gay discrimination is signed by that state’s …

North Carolina’s GOP has decided to go FULL Kentucky, according to an advance copy of tomorrow’s bill. The Associated Press reports: The North Carolina General Assembly is returning for an expected one-day session Wednesday to block implementation of Charlotte’s new “bathroom ordinance” before it takes effect April 1. But the final legislation is expected to do more than eliminate the …

The ACLU is keeping its eye on the LGBT ball while the rest of the country obsesses on the primaries and terrorism. They write: There are several bills that threaten LGBT equality likely to move this week: North Carolina: The North Carolina legislature will convene in a special session on Wednesday solely to prevent Charlotte’s LGBT non-discrimination ordinance from taking …

The Charlotte News & Observer reports: North Carolina legislative leaders announced Monday that they’ll convene a special legislative session Wednesday to deal with Charlotte’s controversial LGBT ordinance. Lawmakers acted on their own after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory declined to call a special session, saying he believes legislators are considering a measure that goes far beyond the Charlotte ordinance. But Lt. …

In 2012 then-Malawian President Joyce Banda suspended her nation’s laws that criminalized homosexual acts. Last week Malawi’s Catholic bishops issued a joint pastoral letter which denounces the government for failing to imprison gay citizens. From the letter: We agree with those who have faulted the Government for putting a moratorium on laws governing homosexual acts. This means that those guilty …

“One of the most popular politicians right now is a socialist. And who is his biggest following? The young people of America, from the colleges. Maybe you understand a little bit what it felt like to live when Hitler was reigning and the church had to sit by and keep watching it and watching until millions, tens of millions — …

“Dale is from Provo. I met him just a few minutes ago. I want to tell you why I have hope. Dale introduced himself to me. And he didn’t tell me this, his father did. Dale has been fasting without anybody knowing it every Tuesday for the last three weeks for the right outcome in this election. This is the …

On Friday the NFL warned that Atlanta will never get a Super Bowl if Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signs the anti-LGBT “license to discriminate” bill that has reached his desk. Yesterday HRC head Chad Griffin spoke at his group’s Los Angeles gala where he called on the assembled Hollywood movers and shakers to boycott the state if the bill becomes …

From the Charlotte News & Observer: N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said Saturday that he hopes to call a special legislative session within a week to repeal parts of a controversial Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance. The Charlotte City Council early this month voted to expand protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, including a provision that will allow transgender people …