LGBTI advocates have welcomed new US government recommendations on PrEP and HIV testing. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) finalized its rating for PrEP, giving it an ‘A’ rating. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a proven HIV preventative treatment. The USPSTF also gave an ‘A’ rating to routine, voluntary HIV screening for people aged 15 to 65, all pregnant(…)
Amid an ongoing struggle with anti-transgender violence, the American Medical Association approved a resolution Monday to take action on the issue. The AMA House of Delegates, which is comprised of U.S. physicians and medical students, approved the new policy, Resolution 008, at its 2019 annual meeting in Chicago. The goal of the policy to bring national(…)
The Vatican has issued a statement rejecting trans people, saying they ‘annihilate…the concept of nature’. In a new document issued during Pride Month, the Congregation for Catholic Education has issued a crushing statement on trans issues. The office responsible for overseeing education calls trans people experiencing ‘nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in(…)
In the early hours of 6 June, North Carolina authorities found the body of Chanel Scurlock, a black transgender woman, in Lumberton. They found Scurlock’s body in a field near Old Town Road in the city. She was shot to death and her car was missing. Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins told local news outlet The Robesonianinvestigators have ‘great leads’ into(…)
In an about-face, YouTube announced it would start removing channels promoting extreme views. This included reversing a decision about right-wing commentator Steven Crowder. The video platform has recently received a slew of criticism for its handling of the Crowder situation. It all began when YouTube announced an investigation into Crowder after journalist Carlos Maza claimed Crowder was targeting him with racist and homophobic harassment. A few(…)
A new analysis has found that three-quarters of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans believe in God, but many don’t identify as part of an organised religion. The finding comes from a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study. According to the survey data, 77 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults(…)
The Statesman reports: Escalating the fight over Chick-fil-A’s religious rights, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Antonio on Monday as part of his investigation into the city’s decision to reject the chicken chain as an airport vendor. The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Travis County, seeks a court order requiring San Antonio to(…)
On Wednesday (5 June), the Trump Administration implemented a new policy ending research done by government scientists using fetal tissue. This severely limits research done on HIV. According to the Washington Post, the Administration also canceled a university’s multi-million dollar laboratory contract. The university used fetal tissue in testing new HIV treatments. ‘Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural(…)
YouTube have insisted that a right-wing influencer who targeted a journalist for years with homophobia did not violate the website’s hate speech policies. Carlos Maza, a videographer for US news site Vox, publicly complained about the persistent abuse from a right-wing YouTuber, Steven Crowder. The Twitter thread went viral, prompting the Google-owned platform to review Maza’s claims. However,(…)
The body of a black transgender woman pulled from White Rock Lake in northeast Dallas on Saturday evening “showed obvious signs of homicidal violence,” the Dallas police chief said. The victim, identified as Chynal Lindsey, 26, is the second black transgender woman to be found dead in Dallas in less than a month. “We are concerned,”(…)