Tag Archives: LGBTQ rights

NBC News reports: Pop star Taylor Swift notched the highest net favorability rating of any figure tested in the latest NBC News national poll, with 40% of registered voters saying they have a positive view of Swift, versus only 16% holding a negative opinion. Seventeen percent of those surveyed reported having “very positive” views of Swift, while 22% had “somewhat …

McClatchy reports: A salon owner in Michigan banned certain LGBTQ customers, referring them to pet groomers instead, officials said. Now, the establishment faces a discrimination charge. “If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman, please seek services at a local pet groomer,” Christine Geiger, the owner of Studio 8 Hair Lab, LLC, wrote on Facebook in July. “You …

The BBC reports: Russia’s justice ministry has filed a motion with the country’s Supreme Court to ban the activities of what it calls the “international LGBT public movement” as extremist. It is unclear whether the ministry’s statement refers to the LGBT community as a whole or specific organisations. It said the movement had shown signs of “extremist activity”, including inciting …

The Detroit Free Press reports: A federal lawsuit alleges the city of Hamtramck violated the U.S. Constitution when it passed and enforced a law this summer that banned the display of LGBTQ+, ethnic and political flags on government property. The 223-page suit was filed against the city, Mayor Amer Ghalib and city councilmen on behalf of two former city commissioners …

The Associated Press reports: Hungary’s cultural minister on Monday fired the director of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, accusing him of failing to comply with a contentious law that bans the display of LGBTQ+ content to minors. The dismissal of Laszlo L. Simon, who became director of the museum for a five-year term in 2021, came after Hungary’s government …

Via press release from the Justice Department: An Oregon man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release for attempting to run over three people with a car as part of a week-long crime spree targeting the LGBTQI+ community around Boise, Idaho, in October 2022. According to court records, on Oct. 8, 2022, while …

Orlando’s ABC affiliate reports: Thousands of people packed downtown Orlando Saturday for the “Come Out With Pride” festival and parade. Two hundred thousand attendees came together to celebrate LGBTQ+ life and culture. Throughout the day, festival grounds at Lake Eola were filled with multiple vendors, live entertainment and family-friendly activities. A sea of people lined the streets around the lake …

The Hill reports: Anti-LGBTQ hate crimes rose sharply in 2022, jumping more than 19 percent over 2021, according to the FBI’s annual crime report released Monday. Hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people were up significantly compared with 2021, with 622 reported single-bias, anti-LGBTQ hate crimes. Hate crimes motivated by an anti-transgender bias rose more than 35 percent year over year, reaching …

Reuters reports: India’s top court on Tuesday declined to legalise same-sex marriage and left it to parliament to decide, agreeing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that the legislature is the right forum to rule on the contentious issue. The unanimous order by a five-judge bench came as a huge disappointment to the large LGBTQ community in the world’s most …

The Indian legal site Bar And Bench reports: The Supreme Court will deliver on Tuesday its verdict on whether same-sex marriages should be legally recognised in India. A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha had reserved the verdict on May 11 …

ABC News reports: The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) PAC, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) Action Fund and Equality PAC, representing three of the nation’s leading LGBTQ+ organizations, endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign on Tuesday — the eve of National Coming Out Day. “Without question, the Biden Administration has been the strongest advocate for the needs of transgender …

The Associated Press reports: Five conservative cardinals from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have challenged Pope Francis to affirm Catholic teaching on homosexuality and female ordination ahead of a big Vatican meeting where such hot-button issues are up for debate. The cardinals on Monday published five questions they submitted to Francis, known as “dubia,” as well as an open …

Pink News reports: Candidates were asked their opinions on the contentious parental rights debate, which has seen a growing number of school districts debate whether to introduce policies that would inform parents if a student goes by a gender identity that doesn’t match the gender on their birth certificate. When it came Ramaswamy’s turn to speak, he said: “Transgenderism, especially …

EuroNews reports: Suella Braverman questioned the United Nations Refugee Convention in a speech in Washington, arguing that “simply being gay, or a woman” should not be by itself grounds for international protection. The British government has made the fight against illegal immigration a priority. With a general election due next year, which the opposition party Labour is widely tipped to …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: When San Francisco’s AIDS Legal Referral Panel was founded 40 years ago by a loose collective of gay attorneys desperate to help ill friends and loved ones, the vast majority of their work was crafting wills for young men, in some cases days before they died. Bill Hirsh, executive director of the nonprofit agency for …

The Hill reports: The new ad from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), part of a six-figure buy, will air nationwide Monday morning across major national outlets, cable networks and digital streaming services, according to an announcement shared first with The Hill. The 30-second spot calls on voters to tell their representatives in Congress “to reject the politics of hate and …

Reuters reports: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan complained on Thursday that he was uncomfortable with the use of what he described as “LGBT colors” at the United Nations, which is decorated this week with bright colors promoting the Sustainable Development Goals. “One of the issues that bothers me the most … is that when entering the United Nations General Assembly, you …

PBS NewsHour reports: The U.S. Census Bureau asked the Biden administration Tuesday for permission to test questions about sexual orientation and gender identity for people age 15 and above on its most comprehensive annual survey of life in the country. The statistical agency wants to test the wording, response categories and placement of gender identity and sexual orientation questions on …

Melissa McCollister: Good evening, vice president. I am an LGBTQ member and I have trans individuals in my family. Recent anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law all around this United States, including here in Iowa. So far, in 2023, 15 transgender individuals and gender nonconforming people have been murdered. The vast majority of those people have been Black and …

CBS News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the NAACP is pulling a “stunt” by calling Florida hostile to Black Americans, other minorities and LGBTQ+ people. In an interview with DeSantis, CBS asked if he would represent the entire country, and whether everyone could feel welcome in DeSantis’ America. “A hundred percent,” DeSantis responded. “And that is politics. That’s a …