Joe.My.God. LGBT News

Via the Associated Press: North Dakota’s Republican-led Senate has narrowly approved a bill to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Senate voted 25-22 on Tuesday to send the legislation to the House, going against the wishes of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony on the legislation earlier this month and voted 4-2 to …

Hearst’s pooch won best of breed for the toy group and will compete in the finals tonight. The dog is named Rocket, not Tania as one might hope.

Via the Washington Blade: Apple Inc., the technology giant whose CEO recently came out as gay, has terminated its contract with an Alabama lobbyist it recently hired who has an anti-LGBT record, according to the three sources. Former Alabama State Rep. Jay Love, who served in the Alabama Legislature between 2003 and 2013, appears on the Alabama Ethics Commission list …

The Irish government today approved the publication of the Children and Family Relationship Bill, which would legalize adoption by same-sex couples. From the Independent: Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald today secured cabinet support for the legislation, which Taoiseach Enda Kenny described as the most “important change to family law since the foundation of the State”. The bill will now be proofed …

Via the New York Post: Can Twitter followers turn a Broadway show into a hit? “Star Trek” star George Takei has a total 9.5 million followers on social media, and demand for tickets to his upcoming Broadway show has been riding high months before tickets actually go on sale. Takei’s musical, “Allegiance,” opens in October, and the box office isn’t …

Via the Washington Post: Everyone wants to know whether Jeb Bush can survive his support for Common Core and comprehensive immigration reform in today’s Republican Party. One deal-breaker that might surprise people, though: His opposition to gay marriage. NBC News and Marist College are out with a batch of new 2016 primary polls. And as you might expect, Common Core, …

From the clip description: The human rights advocacy group the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) today announced that it will be holding a contest for cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and an exhibit of Muhammad cartoons, a retropective this May in Garland, Texas. The contest will be online, with entries posted at the AFDI website. The winning cartoon will …

National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg today points to a just-released study which shows that tens of millions of dollars donated to Tea Party-affiliated PACs went nowhere. And by nowhere, he means into somebody’s pockets, but not the candidates’. Goldberg excerpts from the study: How many conservative candidates lost in 2014 because of a lack of funds? How many of them …

Stereogum raves:  Oh, what, you thought the Grammys were over? Well, they are. But the Grammy producers couldn’t resist throwing some more musical prestige up on network TV. And so last night, CBS aired a big tribute show to Stevie Wonder, who is, at the very least, someone extremely deserving of a big tribute show. And Beyoncé showing up on …