Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Michigan Business reports: Campaign finance reports filed on Monday show the Lansing-based Michigan Catholic Conference, which bills itself as “the official voice of the Catholic Church in Michigan on matters of public policy,” has made $238,874.80 in direct and in-kind contributions to Citizens for Equality, Fairness and Justice, an organization formed in April that has actively opposed the LGBTQ initiative. …

The Guardian reports: Thousands of Hungarians have joined the annual Budapest Pride march to support LGBTQ people and protest against a law that limits teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues in schools. Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in power since 2010, has introduced social policies that he says aim to safeguard traditional Christian values from western liberalism, stoking tensions …

The Guardian reports: Draft anti-gay legislation submitted to Ghana’s parliament could propose up to 10 years in jail for LGBTQ+ people as well as groups and individuals who advocate for their rights, express sympathy or offer social or medical support, in one of the most draconian and sweeping anti-gay laws proposed around the world. Support for intersex people would also …

Radio Free Europe reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced plans for a referendum on child-protection issues to gauge support for controversial legislation that the European Union and activists see as discriminatory to LGBT people. In a Facebook video posted on July 21, Orban accused the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, of abusing its powers in challenging Hungary’s …

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 …

Reuters reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed on Thursday he would not give in to EU pressure to repeal a new law banning schools from using materials seen as promoting homosexuality, as the bloc’s lawmakers called for penalties over the legislation. The law, which came into force on Thursday, has set Orban on a collision course with rights groups, …

The Moscow Times reports: Russian organic grocer VkusVill has pulled its promotional material featuring an LGBT family and replaced it with an apology less than a week after posting it. Social media users reportedly swarmed VkusVill’s and the same-sex family’s accounts with death threats after their story ran Wednesday as part of a series spotlighting the retail chain’s regular customers. …

Sky News reports: Czech President Milos Zeman has said he finds transgender people “disgusting”, while appearing to support a new Hungarian law banning educational programmes and material for children which the government considers to be promoting homosexuality or gender change. Asked about the law passed earlier this month by Hungarian politicians, he told CNN Prima: “If you undergo a sex-change …

Religion News Service reports: Pope Francis sent a letter praising the work of a Jesuit priest who has been an outspoken advocate for more respectful treatment of LGBTQ people within the Catholic Church, in which the pontiff described Father James Martin’s work as imitating the “style of God.” The letter, written in Spanish and dated June 21, was in response …

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 …

It was 52 years ago this weekend that the queer community of New York City finally said “Enough!” As I’ve done for the last few years on this day, I’m reposting the story that the New York Daily News ran one week after the Stonewall Riots. Note how the story drips with condescension and ridicule. We’ve come a long, long …

The Associated Press reports: The Vatican’s Secretary of State attempted to tamp down controversy Thursday over a Vatican diplomatic communication to Italy, saying the Holy See was not trying to block passage of a law that would extend additional protections from discrimination to the LGBT community. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s No. 2, told Vatican News that he personally approved …

Reuters reports: Respect LGBT rights or leave the European Union, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told his Hungarian counterpart as the bloc’s leaders confronted Viktor Orban over a law that bans schools from using materials seen as promoting homosexuality. “It was really forceful, a deep feeling that this could not be. It was about our values; this is what we …

The Hill reports: President Biden on Friday named Jessica Stern as the State Department’s U.S. special envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons, an announcement that coincides with the White House’s celebration of Pride month. The position was left vacant under the administration of former President Trump. Biden will introduce Stern during remarks in the East Room Friday afternoon …

The Hill reports: More than half of LGBTQ adults in America say they have experienced violent threats, according to a study from The William Institute at the UCLA School of Law. The study examined the similarities and differences across key subgroups of the LGBTQ community. Fifty-two percent of respondents said that someone had threatened them with violence since they were …

Reuters reports: Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, France and Ireland were among European Union countries condemning their peer Hungary on Tuesday for a new anti-LGBTQ law as the bloc zeroed in again on democratic failings in Budapest and its nationalist ally Warsaw. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg authored a joint declaration condemning the latest legal changes under Prime Minister Viktor Orban …

Just in via press release: The Stonewall Inn, widely regarded as the birthplace of the LGBTQ rights movement, will ban Anheuser-Busch products from the bar during NYC Pride weekend, June 25-27, in response to news that the company made political contributions to lawmakers behind bills targeting transgender youth. Community members will join the bar’s owners in a public ‘pour-out’ of …

NBC News reports: LGBTQ civil servants and service members were systematically fired or forced to resign due to their sexual orientation or gender identity over the past seven decades, and a proposed bill is seeking to have the federal government issue an official apology acknowledging its past discriminatory policies. The bill, introduced Thursday by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., says the …

Law & Crime reports: The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed court documents to support two separate lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which argue that recently passed anti-transgender laws in West Virginia and Arkansas violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The filing aligned with a memo put out by the DOJ’s Division …

Euronews reports: Hungary is being investigated by the European Commission over a new law that bans the sharing of content that portrays homosexuality or sex reassignment with people under the age of 18. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed on Wednesday that the bill would be investigated by the European Union. It is the latest …