Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Just in from the Human Rights Campaign: HRC announced that an unprecedented 161 leading businesses have joined HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. With a combined operation in all 50 states, headquarters in 26 states, more than $3.7 trillion in revenue, and more than 8.5 million employees across the United States, these companies know how important it is to …

NBC News reports: In 1971, gay couple Michael McConnell and Jack Baker applied for a marriage license from Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The clerk, not realizing one of the individuals listed on the application was male, issued the license — though stopped short of officially recording it. Nearly five decades later — after a prolonged legal battle to get their …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursday during her weekly news conference the Equality Act, legislation that would enact long sought-after federal protections against anti-LGBT legislation, would be introduced next week. As it was previously introduced, the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to …

Reuters reports: An estimated 4.5 percent of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and they tend to be younger and poorer than the population at large, according to an analysis of polling data released on Tuesday. The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law examined previously released results from the Gallup Daily Tracking survey and went …

The Lincoln Journal Star reports: It wasn’t exactly a vote on the bill that would give protections to LGBTQ workers, but it was a vote that ended debate and the bill’s chances of passing this session. The bill (LB627) that would ensure workers couldn’t be fired or discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity will be put …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Just when advocates for a statewide LGBTQ civil-rights appear to have more support than ever — including from a growing number of Republicans — another bill in the Florida Legislature is threatening to eliminate anti-discrimination measures already enacted by cities and counties. On its face, House Bill 3 would preempt local governments from imposing new regulations …

Gay Star News reports: Less than two weeks after its mayor signed a historic accord recognizing the rights of LGBTI people, homophobes unfurled an anti-gay banner at a soccer match in Warsaw. Fans of the team Legia Warsaw unfurled the massive banner which read, ‘keep Warsaw free from faggots’ on Friday night. The banner also featured the LGBT acronym with …

Georgia Republicans are taking another shot at an anti-LGBT “religious liberty” bill similar to the one vetoed in 2016 by then-Gov. Nathan Deal after major corporations threatened to boycott the state. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: “Georgians need to be fully protected under the First Amendment,” said state Sen. Marty Harbin [left in photo above], a Republican from Tyrone who introduced …

The New York Times reports: The United Methodist Church on Tuesday voted to strengthen its ban on gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages, a decision that could split the nation’s second-largest Protestant church. After three days of intense debate at a conference in St. Louis, the vote by church officials and lay members from around the world doubled down …

The Indianapolis Star reports: The Indiana Senate voted to amend a hate crimes proposal Tuesday, scrapping from the bill all protected characteristics, including gender identity, race and sexual orientation. The amendment to Senate Bill 12 removed the list of specific characteristics and added that judges can consider bias more generally as an aggravating circumstance when weighing a stricter sentence for …

NBC News reports: The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it’s still illegal to be gay, U.S. officials tell NBC News, a bid aimed in part at denouncing Iran over its human rights record. U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, the highest-profile openly gay person in the Trump …

Reuters reports: When Chloe Kritharas Devienne was asked to photograph 28 couples kissing and cuddling in Greece while holding a bar of Lacta chocolate, she did not expect to be attacked by trolls. The Valentine’s Day adverts for the popular chocolate brand were the first to feature same-sex and interracial couples in Greece, a conservative country where the Orthodox Church …

The Kyodo News reports: Thirteen same-sex couples demanding marriage equality filed lawsuits against the government at district courts across Japan on Valentine’s Day on Thursday, arguing that its refusal to allow them to marry is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Each of the 26 plaintiffs is seeking 1 million yen ($9,000) in compensation, claiming that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage …

The Associated Press reports: President Jair Bolsonaro is taking his anti-leftist ideological war to Brazil’s classrooms and universities, causing angst among teachers and education officials who say the government wants to fight an enemy that doesn’t exist. Bolsonaro and top officials have announced plans to revise textbooks to excise references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women, say the military …

Our friends at St. Martin’s Press have provided JMG readers with an exclusive first look at the coming memoir of late LGBT activist and marriage equality champion Edith Windsor: Edie Windsor became internationally famous when the Supreme Court ruled in her favor in her case seeking recognition from the US government for her marriage to her partner Thea Spyer. The …

“If you are in a position of power and you hate people and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering — what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused, and they’re going to kill themselves and people are going to be …

The Associated Press reports: Arkansas’ highest court says a city can’t enforce an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, saying it’s already ruled the measure violates a state law aimed at preventing local protections for LGBT people. The state Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a Washington County judge’s decision to allow Fayetteville to continue enforcing its …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: Aaron Lucero and Jeff Cannon wanted a country wedding. They say they still do, even after what they thought was their dream venue turned them away. “It’s still the idea,” Lucero, 29, told McClatchy. “Planning your wedding is supposed to be this joyous, happy moment in your lives, and this was so jarring because it …

The Jurist reports: Angola’s parliament approved a new penal code Wednesday that drops provisions widely interpreted to criminalize homosexuality. The new penal code is Angola’s first since it gained its independence from Portugal in 1975. The prior code contained many holdover provisions from the colonial era, including a ban of “vices against nature,” which was understood to criminalize same-sex relationships …

“I’d always known that as a child, Tulsi had been deeply affected by the conflict between myself and the gay community. But after seeing her video the other day, what she said broke my heart. I never realized how much trauma I put her through because of my overly aggressive advocacy for traditional marriage. We continue to have a very …