Tag Archives: LGBT rights

The Associated Press reports: Oklahoma legislators approved a measure Thursday to grant legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that cite their religious beliefs for not placing children in LGBT homes and lawmakers in Kansas were close to passing a similar measure. The Oklahoma House’s 56-21 vote sent its measure to Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, who has not said whether she …

Via press release from Freedom For All Americans: In a legislative victory two years in the making, the New Hampshire Senate, by a bipartisan vote of 14-10, voted in favor of a bill, HB 1319, that adds transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination protections to the state’s existing civil rights law. The bill now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Chris Sununu, who …

The Guardian reports: A teacher who leads a classroom for teenage refugees staged a silent protest by wearing several overtly political badges while receiving an award from Donald Trump at the White House. Mandy Manning works at the Newcomer Center at Joel E Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington, which specialises in English language development for new refugees and immigrant …

Just in from PRRI Polling: Recent dramatic shifts in support for same-sex marriage are also evident at the state level. Today, majorities in 44 states believe gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to legally marry, compared to only 30 states in 2014. In only six states does the issue of same-sex marriage garner less than majority support: Alabama (41%), …

The Guardian reports: A bakery run by evangelical Christians is to launch a fresh attempt to overturn a £500 award made against it for refusing to bake a cake promoting same-sex marriage. Ashers bakery, which has branches in Northern Ireland and is financially supported by the Christian Institute, is taking its claim to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, which is …

Just in from hate group leader Tony Perkins: If Kanye West wears his “Make America Great Again” hat to a New York City bar, beware! He might not be served. When a Trump supporter sued The Happiest Hour for saying he wasn’t welcome, a Manhattan judge sided with the bar. As far as the court is concerned, if a business …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: Dear Justice Kennedy, As you have no doubt heard, rumors of your impending retirement are, for the second year in a row, echoing around Washington and across America. While you and your colleagues on the Supreme Court were listening to the final oral arguments of the term in recent days, those …

Vox reports: Joy-Ann Reid on Saturday apologized to the LGBTQ community for her past “hurtful” comments, following the resurfacing of homophobic blog posts from the mid-to-late 2000s. The host of MSNBC’s weekend show AM Joy has been under fire for newly uncovered blog posts published on Reid’s now-defunct blog, the Reid Report, in the mid-to late 2000s that repeatedly mocked …

The South Bend Tribune reports: Memories Pizza, the shop that became embroiled in the national debate over religious and civil rights and touched off a national media firestorm in 2015, has closed. A sign in the front window of the pizza shop says it was shuttered last month. Owners Kevin and Crystal O’Connor were the focus of intense criticism and …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration says it plans to roll back a rule issued by President Barack Obama that prevents doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies from discriminating against transgender people. Advocates said the change could jeopardize the significant gains that transgender people have seen in access to medical care, including gender reassignment procedures — treatments for …

The Washington Post reports: When Amazon executives recently toured the Dallas-Fort Worth area, one of 20 finalists for a second company headquarters, local officials touted its growing workforce and low taxes as perfectly suited to accommodate 50,000 planned Amazon jobs. But the local team also brought an unexpected guest: the Rev. Neil G. Cazares-Thomas, pastor of a predominantly gay megachurch …

“Mike Pence has made a career out of attacking the rights and equal dignity of LGBTQ people, women and other marginalized communities. Now as vice president, he poses one of the greatest threats to equality in the history of our movement. With the world distracted by Donald Trump’s scandal-ridden White House, Mike Pence’s nefarious agenda has been allowed to fly …

The Associated Press reports: In a striking shift from recent years, major legislation curtailing LGBT rights has been completely stymied in state capitols around the country this year amid anxiety by Republican leaders over igniting economic backlash if they are depicted as discriminatory. In the thick of this year’s legislative sessions, LGBT activists were tracking about 120 proposed bills that …

Reuters reports: Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she regretted Britain’s role in anti-gay legislation across its former colonies, seeking to address criticism of the Commonwealth at its gathering in London. May is looking to reinvigorate the Commonwealth, a 53-country network of mostly former colonies, as Britain seeks new post-Brexit ways to project its influence in the world and …

Trinidad’s Newsday reports: Members of the gay community are calling for calm and tolerance as three young men who were at the forefront of a human rights rally celebrating the historic court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the buggery and serious indecency laws, last Thursday, have been kicked out of their homes. The three men, social worker Luke Sinette confirmed …

Reuters reports: China’s Sina Weibo’s on Monday reversed a decision to remove gay content after outcry among gay Chinese who say the company had smeared homosexuality by lumping it with pornography as it tried to meet government censorship directives. China’s Twitter-equivalent Weibo said on Friday it would remove pornographic, violent or gay videos and cartoons in a three-month campaign, singling …

Agence France-Press reports: China’s Sina Weibo said it would remove “homosexual” content from the popular microblogging platform, prompting a storm of online protests Saturday under the hashtag “I am gay”. Weibo said in a statement Friday it had begun a “clean-up campaign” to remove “illegal” content, including “manga and videos with pornographic implications, promoting violence or (related to) homosexuality”. It …

The New York Daily News reports: A nationally known gay rights attorney and green activist set himself on fire and burned to death in Prospect Park early Saturday in a bizarre ecological protest suicide. The charred remains of David Buckel, 60, were discovered shortly after sunrise when firefighters responded to a report of a fire in the southwest corner of …

Axios reports: A federal judge in Washington ordered Friday that a halt to President Trump’s transgender troop ban remain in place, saying that the government must prove its order “was sincerely motivated by compelling interests, rather than by prejudice or stereotype.” In addition to keeping its injunction in place, the judge overseeing the case said that transgender people represent a …

Canned ham spokesmodel Todd Starnes writes: Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, faced an offensive line of questioning from Sen. Cory Booker – demanding to know if he opposed same-sex marriage and if he thought gay sex was perverse. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for people of the Christian faith to practice their religion in the public marketplace. …