LGBTQ Nation

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DNA evidence could help D.C. police solve the 1987 murder of a lesbian woman

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D.C. police have used DNA testing technology that could help solve the 1987 murder of a lesbian woman. On May 13, a 35-year-old woman named Greta Denise Rainey was found raped and strangled in her Capitol Hill apartment. Eighteen months before her death, a 22-year-old named Florence Eyssalenne was also found raped and murdered in her apartment, which was next to Johnson’s. At the time, investigators took DNA samples as part of a police rape kit. Now, using contemporary DNA-testing technology that wasn’t available at the time, police have tested the samples and formed a DNA profile of an unidentified […]

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Community unites to create Pride display after couple was targeted by MAGA vandal

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A Chicago couple whose home has been repeatedly vandalized by a Trump supporter is combatting hate with love. Erica Hungerford and Peter Charnley rallied their community last weekend to create a massive display of LGBTQ Pride on their garage. ADVERTISING The couple has refused to be intimidated by a man who has repeatedly destroyed their Pride flags and left them threatening MAGA messages at their home in the city’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, where they have only lived since February. The couple was joined by about a dozen members of their community on Sunday to paint a rainbow mural on their […]

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Transgender voters risk losing their voice in 2022 midterms

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Less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the window for transgender voters to verify their identities for voting is closing fast. Roadblocks for trans people to acquire accurate identification abound, while ID requirements to vote are getting stricter in a growing number of states. The predictable result will be fewer trans people voting in 2022, just as their rights are coming under attack from anti-LGBTQ candidates. According to the latest research from UCLA’s Williams Institute, over 200,000 trans voters could be disenfranchised this November. It could be worse. A 2015 study from the National Center for Transgender Equality reveals voter participation from […]

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Ireland is making transgender people a protected class in hate crimes law

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Irish lawmakers are set to make transgender people a protected class in the country, making it easier for anyone who targets them to be charged with a hate crime. The Irish Cabinet has approved a bill that says anyone who is convicted of purposefully inciting hatred or violence against a person due to their gender identity or expression could face up to five years in prison, reported The Irish Times. The updates to Irish hate crimes law – which also included making disabled people a protected class – were reportedly made based on international best practices. To protect freedom of speech, the […]

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Genital exams for schoolgirls called out in Ohio political ads

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Two hard-hitting ads are being aired in Ohio that blast Republicans’ attempt to pass a bill banning transgender girls from participating in school sports. In June state house Republicans passed H.B. 151, which contained a measure to ban transgender girls from participating in school sports. It said that if a female student-athlete is “accused” or “suspected” of being transgender, then she can be made to undergo an examination of her genitalia, hormone levels, and DNA. “This is truly bizarre medically and nonsensical, but looking at it practically, this bill means that if anyone decides to question a child’s true gender, […]

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Trump judge upholds Don’t Say Gay law because bullying is “a fact of life”

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For the second time, a Trump-appointed judge has upheld the legality of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law. Lambda Legal, the Southern Legal Counsel, and the Southern Poverty Law Center joined together with a group of LGBTQ students and their families to advocate for a preliminary injunction on H.B. 1557 – which prohibits K-3 teachers from talking about sexual orientation and gender identity issues with their students. The lawsuit argued that the law restricts free speech and encourages bullying. ADVERTISING But U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger dismissed their request. “Plaintiffs have not directed this Court to any fact that would lead […]

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Shocking video shows officer choking an unarmed trans woman twice on her own property

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A Florida sheriff’s office has cleared an officer of wrongdoing after he was caught on a body camera footage choking a Guatemalan transgender woman and calling her “it.” In November 2020, Sean Bush, a deputy from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), said that a then-24-year-old trans woman named Jenny DeLeon had provoked his forceful arrest after she allegedly grabbed him by the wrist and knocked him off balance while he investigated a domestic disturbance on her property. However, attorney Katherine Viker recently uncovered Bush’s body cam footage while conducting an unrelated allegation of another HCSO deputy using excessive force, The […]

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Out Dem. Robert Zimmerman wants to be a warrior for LGBTQ rights in Congress

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When asked to confirm his age, Out Democrat Robert Zimmerman replied with an easy and emphatic laugh: “No.” For the record, the out Long Island Democrat – who is running for an open seat to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District – is 68. It’s not a young age to hold elective office for the very first time, let alone to fight off an unrepentant MAGA opponent, who, at 34, is exactly half Zimmerman’s age. But the New York native, who graduated cum laude from Brandeis University and earned an MBA at Fordham, is a seasoned politico and strategist. He […]

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The man who won LGBTQ job protections nationwide settles his case with former employer

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Gerald Bostock – the namesake for the 2020 historic Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County that made anti-LGBTQ discrimination illegal in the workplace – has finally settled his own discrimination lawsuit. Bostock spent over ten years working for Clayton County, Georgia as an advocate for victims of child abuse and neglect. He was abruptly fired in 2013, six months after he joined a gay softball league and subsequently endured homophobic comments from colleagues. When he was let go, his employer cited “conduct unbecoming a county employee” as the reason. Bostock believes his termination was directly related to his sexual orientation. In conjunction with two others, […]

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Biden administration expands veteran survivor benefits for same-sex spouses

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A major policy change from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) allows certain same-sex spouses of veterans to qualify for survivor benefits. The VA requires couples to be married for one year for surviving spouses to qualify for survivor benefits and eight years for a higher rate of benefits. Prior to the policy change, which was announced last week, many surviving spouses of LGBTQ veterans did not meet those requirements due to bans on same-sex marriages prior to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. According to the VA, “This wrongly […]

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