Maggie Baska

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Marsha P Johnson, Anne Lister and 6 other inspiring queer icons kids should be taught about in school

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The LGBT+ community is made up of a diverse group of people from all over the world, and their stories are often overlooked in history books. PinkNews spoke to ambassadors and workers from LGBT+ youth charity Just Like Us about the historical figures they wished they had learned about in school, from the past to the present. Anne Lister, English landowner and diarist Rita Leci, 21, said she learned about Anne Lister by watching the historical BBC drama Gentleman Jack. Lister is often heralded as the “first modern lesbian” as she took charge of her family’s estate and lived openly as a lesbian with her partner. “I’ve always […]

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Malaysian man wins landmark challenge against Muslim gay sex ban

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A man from Malaysia has won a landmark ruling against an Islamic gay sex ban, raising hopes for greater LGBT+ rights in the country. The Muslim man – whose name has been withheld by his lawyer to protect his identity – filed the lawsuit after he was arrested in the central Selangor state of Malaysia in 2018 for attempting gay sex. He denied the allegation. Same-sex acts are illegal in Malaysia, although convictions are rare. All 13 states and the federal territory in Malaysia criminalise same-sex relations and gender nonconformity. The federal penal code also punishes any form of anal or oral sex with up […]

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Republicans want to let cis students sue schools that don’t exclude trans kids

Republican lawmakers in Tennesseehave introduced a bill that would allow cisgender students to sue a school if they are ‘forced’ to share school facilities with trans students. Jason Zachary, a Republican congressman from Knoxville, introduced House Bill 1233 at the same time Mike Ball, a Republican senator from Riceville, introduced its sister bill in the Senate, SB 1367. The bills would effectively allow students the ability to refuse to share facilities – such as bathrooms, locker rooms and dorms – with trans students. Cisgender students could then sue publicly-funded schools that do not provide them with “reasonable accommodations”. Zachary argued his bill arose from schools’ confusion over handling bathroom […]

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South Dakota accused of legalizing LGBT+ discrimination through backdoor church bill

South Dakota has signed into law a bill that could open up anti-LGBT+ discrimination under the guise of protecting religious beliefs. Republican governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem signed Senate Bill 124 on Wednesday (10 March) which would give churches leeway to operate during the pandemic. The bill states that the government would not be able to “substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” without “compelling government interest”. But human rights advocates say the bill would allow for discrimination against LGBT+ people across a wide range of goods and services. Activists warn the language is so broadly written that it could enable discrimination against anyone […]

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Schools are absolutely fine to demoralize children who support trans rights, court rules

Schools are within their right to demoralise children who support trans rights, according to a terrifying court ruling about a school in South Carolina. A principal at an elementary school in Moore, South Carolina was in the right when she banned a student’s pro-trans essay from a school booklet, a federal appeals court has ruled.ADVERTISING The child, named in court documents only as RRS, was 10 years old when she was assigned to write an “essay to society” in 2019. The court heard her maternal grandfather is part of the LGBT+ community, and RRS is a “proud advocate of LGBTQ rights”. So she […]

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Parents of trans kids urged to flee Alabama as total ban on trans youth healthcare passes

Young trans people and their families living in Alabama have been warned to “run” after the state banned gender-affirming care for minors. Marie Willa, who posted on TikTok as MissWilla, pleaded for parents living in Alabama to get their trans children out of the state and to “somewhere safe”.×ADVERTISING In an emotional video on TikTok, Willa, a trans woman, said: “I come to you tonight on a very serious note with a dire warning and a plea for help. “If you are the parent of a transgender child that is 19 or under and you live in the state of Alabama, your child lives […]

Christian baker who refused to bake a trans woman’s cake to face discrimination suit in court

A Colorado judge will allow a discrimination complaint against Christian baker Jack Phillips, who refused to make a cake in the colours of the trans Pride flag, but has thrown out a second complaint against him. In 2017, Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused to bake a pink and blue frosted cake to celebrate the transition of Autumn Scardina, a transgender lawyer based in Denver, Colorado.×ADVERTISING After Phillips refused to bake the cake, Scardina filed a complaint against him in 2018 through the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Scardini alleged that Philipps’ refused to create the cake because she is trans. Phillips then sued […]

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President Biden appoints senior advisor on LGBT+ issues

President Joe Biden has come through with his promise to promote inclusion by appointing Reggie Greer as a senior advisor on LGBT+ issues. Greer previously served as the director of constituent engagement at the Victor Institute before joining the Biden presidential campaign in March 2020. He helped build Biden’s LGBT+ elected officials network and the administration’s candidate training, which encourages LGBT+ people to run for office. In his new role as director of priority placement and senior advisor on LGBTQ issues, Greer will help bring forward Biden’s vision to create the most LGBT+ inclusive administration in history. As such, Greer will act as […]

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America’s leading psychiatric organisation finally accepts being trans is not a ‘mental disorder’

The American Psychological Association (APA) adopted a resolution rebuking conversion therapy on trans patients, correctly citing that being trans is not a “mental disorder”. The APA is the leading scientific and professional organisation representing psychology in the US, with more than 122,000 researchers, clinicians, consultants and educators as its members. The prominent psychological association has decried the use of conversion therapy – the dangerous, discredited ‘treatment’ to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – for trans people.ADVERTISING In a February resolution, the APA stated that “transgender and gender non-binary identities and expressions are healthy” and that “incongruence between one’s sex and gender is neither […]

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Gay couple brutally attacked by gang who ‘hurled homophobic slurs at them’ for hugging

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A gay couple were brutally attacked by a gang as they left a casino, in what they believe was a homophobic hate crime. The men say they were both left with serious injuries after the allegedly homophobic attack, which took place as they left the Ameristar Casino in St Charles, Missouri. One of the men, who wished to remain anonymous, told local news station KSDK that he believed they were the victims of a hate crime, claiming that they were targeted and verbally abused because of their sexuality. He explained that he was helping his boyfriend into the car after a night at the casino on Saturday […]

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