Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Hate Group Appeals To Overturn NY LGBTQ Protections

Pat Robertson’s CBN News reports: For nearly one year, a Christian photographer has been battling New York state laws that require her to create photographs and blogs celebrating same-sex weddings, even though it violates her religious beliefs. Emilee Carpenter filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s legislation last year. However, a district court dismissed her case in December. Alliance Defending …

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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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Israel Lifts Ban On Surrogacy For LGBTQ Couples

Reuters reports: Israel on Tuesday lifted restrictions barring same-sex couples and single men from becoming parents through surrogacy within the country, upholding a Supreme Court ruling to end the ban. “It is a historic day for the LGBTQ struggle in Israel,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz [photo] said at a news conference, announcing the ministry had issued a circular granting equal …

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NJ Lawmakers Vote To Codify Same-Sex Marriage

The New Jersey Advance reports: Eight years after court decisions made same-sex marriage legal in New Jersey, both houses of the state Legislature on Monday passed a bill that would officially enshrine gay couples right to wed into state law. The state Senate voted 35-4 on Monday afternoon. The Assembly passed it by a 53 to-10 vote with four abstentions …

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MA Church’s LGBT Asylum Project Wins Praise

The Boston Globe reports: Over Thanksgiving weekend, the first residents of the home in Worcester moved in: three gay men seeking asylum in the U.S. “I don’t even have the words,” said Alain Spyke, 26, who fled Jamaica after being continually harassed and threatened by a local gang for being gay. “To come into this country and have a safe …

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NJ Moves To Formally Codify Same-Sex Marriage

Politico reports: For the first time since 2012, the New Jersey Legislature held a vote on gay marriage. In this case, just the Assembly Judiciary Committee. But it appears the bill, which writes the 2013 Superior Court decision legalizing gay marriage into law, is headed for a quick passage in the lame duck. The reason: With the right-leaning U.S. Supreme …

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SCOTUS May Force Public Funding Of Religious Schools

New York Magazine reports: The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a case involving just 4,800 students in rural Maine. But because of the way the Court seems certain to rule, the case will affect everyone in America. The reason is a single word: discrimination. At one point, Justice Kavanaugh said that “discrimination against all religions, as opposed to secular, is …

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Chilean Lawmakers Legalize Same-Sex Marriage [Video]

The New York Times reports: Lawmakers in Chile on Tuesday legalized same-sex marriage, a landmark victory for gay rights activists that underscores how profoundly the country’s politics and society have shifted in the past decade. By overwhelming majorities in both chambers, lawmakers put the unions of same-sex couples on par with others, making Chile the 31st nation to allow gay …

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Fundraiser Launches In Name Of Anti-LGBT NC Lt Gov

Raleigh’s NBC News affiliate reports: A Durham brewery has launched a fundraiser for the LGBTQ community in response to comments made earlier this year by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Ponysaurus Brewing Company has launched “The Lieutenant Governor Fund for the Fabulous.” Robinson, a Republican who’s likely to run for governor in three years, has come under fire for comments he’s …

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Hungary Approves National Referendum On LGBT Issues

Euronews reports: Hungary’s parliament has approved the government’s plan to hold a national referendum on LGBT issues. The move is the latest step by the Hungarian authorities that critics say is intended to limit minority rights. The decision to call the referendum was approved with 129 votes in favour and none against. Opposition lawmakers abstained from voting on the resolution. …

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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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Russia Investigates Netflix Over “Gay Propaganda”

Reuters reports: Russia is investigating Netflix after its public commissioner for protecting families accused the streaming company of violating Russian law on “gay propaganda”, the Vedomosti daily reported. The commissioner, Olga Baranets, complained to the Interior Ministry that Netflix was in breach of a 2013 law that bans disseminating “propaganda on non-traditional sexual relations” among Russians under the age of …

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Chile On Verge Of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

The Associated Press reports: A measure to legalize marriage and adoption by same-sex couples was approved by the lower house of Chile’s Congress on Tuesday, moving it close to final adoption. It had already passed the Senate. The bill approved 101-30 now awaits only final modifications related to the rights of same sex couples. President Sebastián Piñera has indicated he …

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Norway’s Postal Service Marks 50 Years Since Gay Sex Was Decriminalized With “When Harry Met Santa” Ad

Kampanje reports: This year, as in the previous two years, the Norway Postal Service is presenting a new magnificent Christmas film. Marketing director Monica Solberg says, “After the success of the last two years with Norway Post’s Christmas films, we now notice that people are asking, ‘When is this year’s Christmas film coming and what is the theme this time?’ …

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Biden Marks Transgender Day Of Remembrance

Via press release from the White House: This year, at least 46 transgender individuals in this country—and hundreds more around the world—were killed in horrifying acts of violence. Each of these lives was precious. Each of them deserved freedom, justice, and joy. Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, we mourn those we lost in the deadliest year on record for …

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Swiss Govt: Same-Sex Marriages To Begin On July 1st

The Associated Press reports: Switzerland’s executive body announced Wednesday that same-sex couples can get married starting on July 1 next year, making good on the resounding support Swiss voters expressed in a referendum. The Federal Council officially said that starting Jan. 1, Switzerland would recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who wed in in other countries instead of continuing to …

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Orban: Hungary Will Stay In EU And Stay Anti-LGBT

Reuters reports: Hungary will not leave the European Union but will resist attempts from Brussels to erode its sovereignty, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told his Fidesz party on Sunday. Nationalist Orban, who faces a close parliamentary election next year for the first time in more than a decade, was re-elected chairman of Fidesz on Sunday. “After communist bureaucracy … we …

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US Navy Launches Ship Named For Harvey Milk [Video]

San Diego’s Fox News affiliate reports: The Navy christened its latest ship Saturday, a replenishment oiler named after slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk, during a ceremony in San Diego. The USNS Harvey Milk is the second ship in the Navy’s John Lewis class of fleet replenishment oilers, which will serve to refuel Navy ships at sea. The John Lewis-class …

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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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DOJ Drops Opposition To Survivor Benefits For LGBTs

NBC News reports: Social Security survivors benefits will now be available to same-sex spouses and partners who had been denied access due to previous bans on gay marriage. The Department of Justice and the Social Security Administration on Monday announced that they dismissed appeals filed by the then-Trump administration in two class-action lawsuits related to Social Security survivors benefits for …

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