LGBTQ Nation

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LGBTQ+ people are facing a mental health crisis. Sharice Davids is ready to fight for them.

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Davids is currently fighting to win her fourth term this November — a tough battle, as her district’s demographics have changed to become less Democratic-leaning, and Republican opponents are lining up to challenge her. But she has also been fighting another very important battle: the fight for increased access to mental health care. Davids has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to fund mental health programs in local clinics, schools, and law enforcement centers, as well as a bipartisan bill to help people recovering from substance abuse reenter the workforce. She has also supported dozens of bills to bring down the costs of health care and prescription drugs and introduced the Pride […]

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Annise Parker says local LGBTQ+ candidates have the power to take down Donald Trump

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Years before Annise Parker was elected Houston’s mayor in 2010, she encountered a 17-year-old unsheltered youth. Much like most urban areas across the country, the city was amid a homeless crisis, and she was putting together early efforts to get people off the streets and into housing. Rather than see him as just another number, Parker got to know the young man, Jack, and his story. “His mother was dead, his dad’s in jail, and he’s being raised by grandparents who were trying to beat the gay out of him. But he was tough — he’d run away, so I’d […]

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Google blasted over its “woke” AI image generator, but others are racist and sexist

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Google has partly disabled its artificial intelligence (AI) image generator Gemini after the software produced racially diverse and historically inaccurate images of Black Vikings, female popes, and people of color as the United States “founding fathers.” Gemini produced these images without being prompted by users, leading right-wing critics to blast the software as “woke.” However, the incident revealed not only a technical problem but a “philosophical” one about how AI and other tech should address biases against marginalized groups. Related: “It’s clear that this feature missed the mark. Some of the images generated are inaccurate or even offensive,” Google Senior […]

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Sydney Mardi Gras bans police from marching after cop accused of killing gay couple

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The bodies of a gay couple were discovered yesterday after a weeklong search following a police officer’s arrest for their murder. New South Wales cop and aspiring social media influencer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 28, was charged with killing Jesse Baird, 26 – a former TV presenter whom Lamarre-Condon had casually dated until recently – and Baird’s boyfriend, Luke Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant. Related: The victims’ bodies were found Tuesday stuffed inside surfboard bags and buried in a bush grave. Global perspectives delivered daily Our daily newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world. Now leadership at […]

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Activists to hold inclusive St. Patty’s parade to stick it to city event banning LGBTQ+ folks

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For decades, LGBTQ+ people have been explicitly banned from Staten Island’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, with organizers claiming the policy is justified based on the teachings of the Catholic Church. After endless battles to make the parade more inclusive, activists have taken a different approach this year and will host their own separate LGBTQ+-inclusive parade.  The inclusive event will take place on March 17th, about two weeks after the original parade.  Related: “We join the overwhelming majority of our neighbors in expressing our relief at the news that an inclusive St. Patricks’ Day parade will finally be held on […]

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Is it possible to be a happy gay Jew?

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The theater lights are about to dim at Prayer for the French Republic, a new Broadway play that tracks the journey of a Jewish family in Paris from World War II through the 2017 French presidential election and the country’s rise in antisemitism. My companion leans over and asks earnestly, “Why do the Jews get a country and no other religion?” Playwright Joshua Harmon’s cast of characters debates the question for nearly three hours, as do we over post-show cocktails. I suggest, perhaps with a bit of earnest strain in my voice, that it might have something to do with millennia of […]

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Detroit’s LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce is helping create a business renaissance

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Since he moved from Atlanta in 2012, Detroit native Kevin Heard has been devoted to one ambitious goal: creating opportunity for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs to succeed in the challenging business environment of Motor City. “I didn’t see or was aware of a professional LGBTQ community. I wanted to cultivate that,” Heard told The Detroit News. “I saw a need for organizations that have a fiscal responsibility, voice for and advocate for LGBT-owned businesses. I also felt as though it’s really important to possibly and intentionally curate an LGBT business district within the city of Detroit, like all major metropolitan areas across the […]

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LGBTQ+ parenting rights win in landmark court decision

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A landmark ruling by a Pennsylvania court could set crucial precedent for child custody decisions when LGBTQ+ couples separate or divorce.  Nicole Junior and Chanel Glover went through the entire IVF process together, splitting the massive costs to help Glover get pregnant, co-signing contracts, and establishing Junior as the intended co-parent, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer. They had also been working on paperwork for Junior to obtain a second-parent adoption. Related: But the couple experienced trouble in their marriage when Glover was about halfway through the pregnancy. Once Junior moved out, Glover declared she wanted to be a single mom […]

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Seattle LGBTQ+ venues get a major victory as state review policy that led to bar raid

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The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) has paused enforcement of lewd conduct regulations following outcry over raids conducted late last month at multiple Seattle LGBTQ+ bars. The Stranger reports that the LCB sent a letter last Thursday to state officials informing them of the pause. The board also announced that it would not issue citations for any violations reported by officers during the raids and that it has paused its participation in the city’s Joint Enforcement Team (JET), the coalition of police, fire, and other departments that conducted the January raids. “Since LCB’s participation last week with the City of […]

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