Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Ben Winslow reports for Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: In a hearing filled with uncertainty and a little emotion, a former state lawmaker under consideration to be a judge apologized for past bills that appeared to target the LGBT community. In reality, former Rep. Kraig Powell told the Utah Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee, he was trying to help in the …

Texas GOP state Sen. Bob Hall today introduced a bill that would nullify all local LGBT rights ordinances across the state and block any municipality from enacting new protections. The New Civil Rights Movement reports: Hall’s bill is the first anti-LGBT measure filed in advance of next year’s Texas Legislature, which convenes in January. Today marks the first day of …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Gov. Pat McCrory, trailing in a close race for re-election behind Attorney General Roy Cooper, claims there was “malfeasance” in tabulating votes in Durham County and “irregularities” reported around the state. Cooper’s campaign said nothing improper happened in Durham, and accused McCrory of trying to undermine the election. A formal protest filed Saturday with …

Credit largely goes to Buddhism. ABC News reports: Taiwan could become the first Asian country to pass same-sex marriage laws. Taiwanese parliamentarians have begun work on three bills in support of marriage equality, one of which is already listed for review and could be passed within months. President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female head of state, said as recently as …

Fox News reports: Mexico’s congressional committee rejected a measure on Wednesday that would’ve legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country. The measure on enshrining same-sex couples’ right to wed in the constitution was defeated 19-8, with one abstention, in the Commission on Constitutional Matters. President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed the measure back in May, sparking demonstrations from both supporters and opponents. …

The Charlotte Observer reports: The race for North Carolina governor appeared headed into overtime with Democrat Roy Cooper clinging to a paper-thin lead over Republican Gov. Pat McCrory early Wednesday morning. Cooper was leading by around 3,000 votes out of 4.7 million cast. The race could hinge on so-called provisional ballots expected to be counted by the time of a …

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: I had the numbers flipped in my first wrong, wrong, wrong draft of this post. Raleigh’s ABC affiliate reports: Hours before Election Day, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows races couldn’t be closer in North Carolina. Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 47 percent to 45 percent – well within the margin of error. In North Carolina’s Senate race, …

Reuters reports: African states launched a bid at the United Nations on Friday to halt the work of the first U.N. independent investigator appointed to help protect gay and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination. The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, created the position in June and in September appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand, who has …

A French court has ruled it a criminal offense to call somebody a homophobe. Laure Pora, the former head of Paris ACT UP, has been fined $2500 for using the word on a poster of La Manif Pour Tous president Ludovine Rochere, seen above marching in NOM’s 2014 hate parade in Washington DC. Gay Star News reports: In 2013, ACT …

The BBC reports: Arlene Foster is “childish” and “disingenuous” for saying online abuse is partly why the DUP is unlikely to change its view on same-sex marriage, Alliance leader Naomi Long has said. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where gay marriage is not legal. Mrs Foster said the DUP would use a petition of concern to …

Via email: Not long ago, North Carolina’s governor, Pat McCrory, signed an important common-sense law stopping men from gaining access to intimate facilities like restrooms and showers that are reserved for girls and women. We strongly applaud Governor McCrory‘s leadership, but the left has gone crazy — targeting him for defeat with hateful, orchestrated attacks. Governor McCrory’s opponent, state Attorney …

From the Equal Rights Group of Gibraltar: Today is a happy and long-awaited day for many in Gibraltar. And Equality Rights Group extends a big thanks to all the LGBTI community and also to the very special people who have fought unfailingly alongside us. They are friends of Justice who, despite not being directly affected, have stayed by us in …

The Charlotte Observer reports: Over the last year, when companies announced plans to grow their footprints in North Carolina, state leaders have presented them with an unusual gift: An oak bowl carved from wood from the state capitol grounds. So when PayPal unceremoniously canceled its plans for an expansion in Charlotte over opposition to House Bill 2, state officials did …

Yesterday the Russian embassy in Britain tweeted out the above cartoon which depicts Eurozone member nations as pigs cowering behind a barricade. The pigs are doubtlessly a reference to the acronym PIIGS, which was used by economists when EU members Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain began struggling to refinance government debt during the banking crisis that started in 2009. …

Just in from the Human Rights Campaign: “Time and again Hillary Clinton has demonstrated through her words and actions that she is committed to fighting for full LGBTQ equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “All of the progress we’ve achieved is at stake in this election. While Donald Trump continues his hate-filled campaign and threatens to drag us backwards, Hillary …

Via press release: Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, released a new ad highlighting presidential candidate Donald Trump’s alarming promise to appoint judges in the mold of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whose tenure on the high court was defined by denying LGBTQ Americans their …

Rex Wockner recaps today’s report from El Universal: The National Front for the Family will go to Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies Tuesday to deliver more than half a million signatures opposing President Enrique Peña Nieto’s initiatives on marriage equality and on inclusion of what opponents call “the ideology of gender” in school teaching. The announcement came from the Archdiocese of …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Attorney General Jeff Landry can reject dozens of state legal contracts because they include language preventing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people — among other reasons, according to a Baton Rouge state court ruling Monday (Oct. 17). Judge Donald Johnson, of the 19th Judicial District Court, determined Gov. John Bel Edwards does not …

The Charlotte Agenda reports: Today, Gov. Pat McCrory celebrates his 60th birthday — but it’s not going to be a pleasant birthday morning. A group called the Writers for a Progressive North Carolina purchased a full page newspaper ad in today’s Raleigh News & Observer with headline “HB2 U, PAT” that showcases a rainbow layer cake and body text that …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Opponents of a newly enacted Massachusetts law that prohibits anti-trans discrimination in public accommodations have obtained enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot in 2018, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin certified Tuesday. Brian McNaff, a Galvin spokesperson, affirmed for the Washington Blade Wednesday opponents of the law submitted 34,231 …