Joe.My.God. LGBT News

Via the News & Observer: Senate leader Phil Berger said Tuesday that he would introduce a bill that would protect the jobs of magistrates, registrars of deeds and their employees who refuse to officiate at weddings for members of the same-sex if their refusal is based on religious beliefs. A magistrate in Berger’s home county of Rockingham quit because he …

The cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, and Miami Beach today jointly filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs suing for same-sex marriage in a Tallahassee federal court. Also joining the brief are the popular LGBT tourism town of Wilton Manors, the tiny Miami-Dade County town of Biscayne Park, and the government of Broward County (home to Fort …

Via the Spokesman-Review: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter announced today that he’s filing a petition with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for an en banc re-hearing of Idaho’s same-sex marriage case. “I will continue defending Idahoans’ self determination and the will of Idaho voters who decided that traditional marriage is a core principle of our society,” Otter said in …

Via Equality North Carolina: Raleigh City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday afternoon to include protections for transgender city employees in revised policy language recommended by the City’s Human Relations Commission. With the vote, the state’s capital city became the sixth city in North Carolina to protect all city employees in the LGBT community and the 10th state municipality to offer …

From the clip description: The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus has no doubt that our SF Giants will handily win their 3rd World Series in 5 years. Should the KC Royals sneak their way to victory, the proud men of SFGMC will offer the following: 1. SFGMC Artistic Director Dr. Tim Seelig will conduct a rehearsal in a Kansas City …

From the Pew Research report: Those with consistently conservative political values are oriented around a single outlet—Fox News—to a much greater degree than those in any other ideological group: Nearly half (47%) of those who are consistently conservative name Fox News as their main source for government and political news. Far fewer choose any other single source: Local radio ranks …

Via the Charlotte Observer: A group that backed a North Carolina constitutional amendment on gay marriage is telling public officials that they can refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses in their counties. The North Carolina Values Coalition sent an email Saturday to the state’s registers of deeds saying that their religious and moral beliefs are protected by federal and state …

Via Steve Rothaus the Miami Herald: SAVE, one of South Florida’s best-known LGBT-rights groups, has produced a campaign video, Why We Vote, in support of candidates including Democrats Charlie Crist and Annette Taddeo. “I’m voting because Rick Scott and Pam Bondi refuse to recognize our marriage,” says SAVE board chairman Christian Ulvert, seen on-camera with his husband Carlos Andrade. Both …

(Tipped by JMG reader Phil)