Tag Archives: civil rights

Survey Finds Support For LGBTQ Rights At New High

Religion News Service reports: Americans’ support for LGBTQ rights is higher than ever, according to a new report by Public Religion Research Institute, though two groups have “consistently lagged” in their support for key policies: Republicans and white evangelical Protestants. Those findings, released Thursday (March 17), are part of PRRI’s 2021 American Values Atlas project, a seven-year survey measuring Americans’ …

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Gallup: 7.1% Of US Adults Say They Are Not Straight

Gallup reports: The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to a new high of 7.1%, which is double the percentage from 2012, when Gallup first measured it. Gallup asks Americans whether they personally identify as straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender as part of the demographic …

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Gallup: 62% “Satisfied” With Acceptance Of US Gays

USA Today reports: The percentage of Americans who say they are satisfied with the acceptance of gay and lesbian people in the country has reached a new peak at 62%, according to a poll released Wednesday. Gallup’s annual Mood of the Nation poll asks people about their satisfaction with aspects of U.S. life and policy areas, ranging from the overall …

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Oscar Winning Actor Sidney Poitier Dies At Age 94

Vanity Fair reports: “As I see myself, I’m just the average Joe Blow Negro,” Sidney Poitier told The New York Times in 1959. “But as the cats say in my area, I’m out there wailing for us all.” That tension, between trying to be an ordinary man and having to serve as a racial exemplar, defined the life of Poitier, …

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Britain To Expunge Convictions For Consensual Gay Sex

The Guardian reports: Any conviction that was imposed on someone purely due to consensual homosexual activity under now-abolished laws will be included in a scheme aimed at “righting the wrongs of the past”, the UK home secretary is set to announce. Priti Patel [photo] said more people would have convictions for same-sex sexual activity wiped from their records, as she …

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US Adult LGBTQ Population Estimated To Be Over 20M

Changing America reports: At least 20 million adults in the U.S. identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a new analysis of government data, representing nearly 8 percent of the nation’s total adult population. Millions more may identify as something “more expansive” like pansexual or asexual, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation said in a recent report. Using data …

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Botswana Court Upholds Decriminalization Of Gay Sex

Reuters reports: Botswana’s Court of Appeal on Monday upheld a 2019 ruling that decriminalised gay sex, a decision hailed by gay community as establishing the southern African country as a “true democracy”. Monday’s decision in effect struck off two sections of the penal code that had outlawed homosexuality. Before the 2019 High Court ruling, which was praised by international organisations …

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Chinese LGBT Rights Group Shutters Under Pressure

The South China Morning Post reports: A Chinese LGBT advocacy group has suspended operations indefinitely and closed its social media accounts amid a nationwide tightening of social controls. LGBT Rights Advocacy China, a non-profit providing legal support for the LGBT community, announced the move early on Friday. Its final message on WeChat, one of the country’s leading social media platforms, …

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Jesse Jackson Hospitalized After Fall At Howard U

The Washington Post reports: The Rev. Jesse Jackson was hospitalized Monday after falling during a visit to Howard University, in support of students protesting living conditions on the Washington campus, according to a spokesman. The 80-year-old civil rights leader was meeting with Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick and other administrators when he “sustained an injury upon entering” a campus building, …

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Russia May Label LGBT Rights Groups As “Extremists”

The Moscow Times reports: Russia’s LGBT, radical feminist and child-free groups should be recognized as “extremist,” the chairman of an influential government commission said Wednesday. “LGBT ideology, radical feminism and child-free movements should be recognized as extremism — an extremist ideology,” the state-run TASS news agency cited Andrei Tsyganov, chairman of a commission for the protection of children at the …

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Winston-Salem Approves LGBTQ Rights Ordinance

The Winston-Salem Journal reports: The Winston-Salem City Council on Monday approved public accommodation and employment protections for LGBTQ people and members of other protected classes, extending rules to the private sector that apply now only to city government. Most of the new protections go into effect on Jan. 1, although some enforcement provisions don’t take effect until next March. “It …

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Charlotte Approves Sweeping LGBTQ Rights Ordinance

The Charlotte Observer reports: Five years after the state blocked Charlotte’s expansion to its nondiscrimination ordinance with House Bill 2, the City Council on Monday unanimously approved expansive protections for LGBTQ+ people and some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. While Charlotte has had the authority to enact new protections for gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation and natural hairstyles …

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Activists Cry Foul In Michigan LGBT Rights Ballot Drive

The Associated Press reports: The Michigan elections bureau has determined that organizers of a ballot drive to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people failed to collect enough valid voter signatures. Fair and Equal Michigan gathered nearly 299,000 signatures, short of the roughly 340,000 needed, according to a report released Thursday. “The Bureau of Elections threw out thousands of signatures that are …

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Turkish Police Fire Tear Gas And Rubber Bullets To Stop “Immoral” Istanbul Pride March, 25 Arrested [VIDEO]

Deutsche Welle reports: Riot police in Istanbul fired tear gas and blocked streets during a march in support of LGBT+ rights, detaining 25 people including prominent AFP photographer Bulent Kilic. The march participants comprised several civil society groups that gathered under the motto “the street is ours.” Footage and photos of demonstrators showed some being pushed and dragged by riot …

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Texas Poised To Approve Sprawling Voting Restrictions

The New York Times reports: Texas lawmakers on Saturday finished drafting a bill that would impose a raft of new voting restrictions, setting up the likely passage of what would be among the most far-reaching laws in Republicans’ nationwide drive to overhaul elections systems and limit voting. The bill would tighten what are already some of the country’s strictest voting …

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Grand Jury Indicts Derek Chauvin, Three Other Ex-Cops On Civil Rights Charges Over Murder Of George Floyd

The Associated Press reports: A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air, according to indictments unsealed Friday. The three-count indictment names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and …

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Scottsdale Becomes 8th AZ City With LGBTQ Protections

The Associated Press reports: The city of Scottsdale has voted to approve a non-discrimination ordinance, becoming the eighth city in Arizona to provide protections to members of the LGBTQ community and other groups. The Scottsdale City Council unanimously passed the ordinance on Tuesday protecting residents from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, public places and housing. …

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POLL: Majority Of GOP Voters Back Same-Sex Marriage For First Time, Majority Of All Groups Back LGBT Rights

The Hill reports: A majority within all partisan groups, including Republicans, now support same-sex marriage, according to a poll from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released on Tuesday. In 2019, less than half of those who identify as Republican — 47 percent — backed gay marriage, but the survey indicates that number rose to 51 percent last year. Approval …

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LIVE VIDEO: Senate Judiciary Hearing On Equality Act

The Washington Post reports: In some ways, full LGBTQ rights has never seemed more within reach. First came the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Then its decision last year banning LGBTQ discrimination in employment. And now, for the first time since those rulings, a Democratic-led Congress and a president who vows to pass sweeping legal protections by April. …

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Biden Marks Anniversary Of Breonna Taylor’s Killing

NBC News reports: A large group of demonstrators gathered on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the death of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in her apartment by police officers executing a no-knock search warrant. “All eyes are on Louisville today,” Bianca Austin, Taylor’s aunt, told the crowd. “And we are here to represent Breonna with dignity and …

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