Dan Avery

/ /

Bisexual Men More Prone to Eating Disorders, Study Finds

Bisexual men are more likely to experience eating disorders than either heterosexual or gay men, according to a new report from the University of California San Francisco. Numerous studies have indicated that gay men are at increased risk for disordered eating — including fasting, excessive exercise and preoccupation with weight and body shape. But the findings, published this month in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders, suggest that bisexual men are even more susceptible to some unhealthy habits. In a sampling of over 4,500 LGBTQ adults, a quarter of bisexual men reported having fasted for more than eight hours to influence […]

/ /

Gay Couples Face Hurdle when Trying to Start a Family: Insurance Policies

Chicago couple Adam Motz and Amadou “Tee” Lam have been together for more than five years. But they started talking about having kids on their second date. “We were out to dinner and Tee brought it up,” Motz, 32, said. “Because for him — for both of us — having children was essential, and agreeing on that was the bare minimum before we could go any further.” It was early to have the conversation, he admitted, “but we knew it wouldn’t work if we didn’t both feel the same way.” Fortunately they did. Motz and Lam, 38, were married last […]

/ /

Trump’s New Religious Exemptions for Employers an Invitation to Discriminate, Critics Say

The Trump administration has issued new guidance on religious exemptions for federal contractors that critics say grants them carte blanche to discriminate against LGBTQ workers, women, religious minorities and others. The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs released Monday its final rule on exemptions to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a related 1965 executive order instituting anti-discrimination requirements for federal contractors. The provision expands exceptions to any contractors — for-profit or nonprofit — who “hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose.” “This rule is intended to correct any misperception that religious […]

/ /

Biden Administration on Track to be Most LGBTQ-inclusive in U.S. History

President-elect Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed to make LGBTQ rights a priority in his administration. But he won’t be working alone: The former vice president has already tapped LGBTQ appointees for several key roles and gay rights advocates are hopeful that more will be named, including the first out Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate. There’s also a push, should an opening become available, for him to nominate the first openly LGBTQ justice to the Supreme Court. The Biden-Harris transition team has promoted the president-elect’s “commitment to building an administration that looks like America.” On Sunday, Karine Jean-Pierre, an out lesbian and […]

/ /

Nearly Half of LGBTQ Adults Are Religious, U.S. Study Finds

Almost half of LGBTQ adults in the United States are religious, according to a recent report from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute. Of nearly 16,000 respondents polled in the Gallup Daily Tracking Survey, 47 percent were either moderately or highly religious. Those who were older, Black or lived in the South were the most likely to be religious, researchers found. To determine religiosity, respondents were asked about service attendance and the importance of religion in their daily lives. Respondents who said religion was not an important part of their daily life and they never or seldom attended services were […]

/ /

Hungary Ramps Up Anti-LGBTQ Legislation

A constitutional amendment before the Hungarian Parliament would effectively ban LGBTQ people from adopting, drawing the ire of human rights activists. Draft language submitted to parliament this month by Justice Minister Judit Varga states that children must be raised “in accordance with the values based on our homeland’s constitutional identity and Christian culture.” “The basis for family relations is marriage,” it reads in part. “The mother is a woman, the father is a man.” Under the amendment, only opposite-sex married couples would be eligible to adopt children, with exceptions made on a case-by-case basis by Minister of Family Affairs Katalin […]

/ /

Anti-transgender Hate Crimes Soared 20 Percent in 2019

Bias attacks based on gender identity rose significantly in 2019, according to a new FBI report on hate crimes. Released this week, the annual Uniform Crime Report indicates that, last year, 227 hate-crime incidents were motivated by gender-identity bias. That’s up 20 percent from 2018, when 189 such incidents were reported. Drilling into the data, there were 175 victims of anti-transgender bias and 52 victims of anti-gender-nonconforming bias reported last year, compared to 160 victims of anti-trans bias and 29 victims of anti-gender-nonconforming bias the year prior. Related NBC OUT ‘Everybody knew Rita’: Decades later, still no answers in slaying of Black […]

/ /

Nearly 1 in 10 Transgender Americans Use Nonprescription Hormones, Study Finds

Nearly 1 in 10 transgender Americans are turning to nonprescription sources for gender-affirming hormones — including friends, relatives and internet pharmacies — according to a new study. While the Affordable Care Act has extended health care to millions, many trans people are still uninsured or are denied coverage for transition-related care, including hormones and gender-affirming surgery. According to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, only 24 states explicitly require private insurance companies to cover gender-affirming treatment. And nine states, according to the fund, have explicit exclusions for trans-related coverage under Medicaid. On Thursday, two West Virginia men denied hormone replacement therapy filed suit in […]

/ /

Ritchie Torres Becomes First Gay Afro Latino Elected to Congress

Ritchie Torres has won his House race for New York’s 15th Congressional District, making him the first gay Afro Latino person elected to Congress. Torres was all but certain to win in his deep-blue House district. He defeated Republican Patrick Delices, a former professor of Caribbean studies at Hunter College. He fills a seat left by Rep. Jose Serrano, a 16-term Democrat who said last year that he would not run for re-election. “Tonight we made history,” Torres tweeted Tuesday night, calling it “the honor of a lifetime to represent a borough filled with essential workers who risked their lives so that […]

/ /

Sarah McBride to Become First Transgender State Senator in U.S. History

Sarah McBride has won her Delaware state Senate race, poising her to become the first and only openly transgender state senator in the U.S. and the country’s highest-ranking transgender official. “I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too,” McBride, 30, tweeted Tuesday night after the election was called. “As Delaware continues to face the Covid crisis, it’s time to get to work to invest in the policies that will make a difference for working families.” She easily defeated Republican Steve Washington to represent Delaware’s 1st Senate District. Incumbent Democrat Harris McDowell, who did not seek […]

«‹ 3 4 5 6