Nick Duffy

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Out Texas Lawmakers Form State’s First LGBT Caucus

LGBT+ Texas lawmakers Celia Israel, Jessica González, Erin Zwiener, Mary González and Julie Johnson (Equality Texas) Five out Democrats in Texas have formed the first LGBT+ caucus in the state’s legislature. The five lawmakers came together to launch the first official LGBT+ caucus, which will fight for equal rights in the traditionally-conservative, Republican-controlled state. The LGBT+ caucus will be chaired by state representative Mary González, who was only the second out lawmaker in Texas history when she was elected in 2012. She will be joined by all of the state’s other out lawmakers—Celia Israel, who was elected in 2014, as well […]

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California Adopts Self-ID Gender Recognition Law

A self-ID law that allows transgender people to change their legal gender has come into effect in California. Parts of California’s Gender Recognition Act, which was passed in October 2017, came into effect on January 1. The law allows transgender and non-binary people in the state to submit paperwork to update the gender listed on state ID cards and driver’s licences without having to go through a medicalised application process. Trans people can self-identify in the gender categories “of male, female, or nonbinary,” with California becoming one of the few states to permit recognition of non-binary people. The “self-certification” aspect of […]

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Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman ‘faggot’ Tweets Resurface

Tweets from Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman using anti-gay slurs are under the spotlight after a row over comic Kevin Hart. Musician and actor Nick Cannon called out the trio in the wake of a row involving Kevin Hart, who quit his role as host of the 2019 Oscars last week when a series of homophobic tweets resurfaced. Hart sent tweets attacking “fags” as recently as 2012, while in his 2010 comedy tour he said: “As a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.” The star is far from alone in having […]

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Transgender Miss Universe Contestant Angela Ponce Has Message for Trump

Transgender Miss Universe contestant Angela Ponce has said that her victory would send a message to the contest’s former owner, US President Donald Trump. Angela Ponce is set to represent Spain in the Miss Universe 2018 pageant, which is set to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 17. Her participation is particularly poignant as the contest was owned by Donald Trump until 2015, when he offloaded the business in the run-up to his run for president. Speaking to TIME, the 27-year-old Miss Spain said: “I’m showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a […]

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UK’s NHS Transgender Services ‘at Breaking Point,’ Experts Warn

NHS services for transgender people in the UK are near breaking point, experts have warned a parliamentary committee. The UK Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee today published submissions to an inquiry into LGBT healthcare, revealing the high level of concern about access to gender-related services. The NHS has struggled to keep up with a surge in demand for services at gender identity clinics, with trans people often facing lengthy waiting times for appointments and treatments as backlogs spiral out of control. The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) warned that “specialised gender services is growing exponentially,” adding that “excessive waits result in […]

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Russia’s Ban on Pride Events Breaches Human Rights, Court Rules

Russia has violated LGBT+ people’s human rights by banning Pride events, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled on Tuesday (November 27). The case was brought by Russian LGBT+ activist Nikolay Alexeyev and six others, who alleged that they have been systemically denied permissions to hold Pride events in cities across Russia. They listed 51 occasions on which permission for events were refused. Authorities frequently cite the country’s 2013 gay ‘propaganda’ law, which bans “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientations” in order to block the events, though the denials in the case dated from 2009 to 2014. “The applicants suffered unjustified […]

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Salvation Army Warns Staff Against Public Homophobia

A donation is made as a Salvation Army bell ringer works outside a store (Tim Boyle/Getty) The Salvation Army has warned members not to discuss their opposition to LGBT rights in public. The religious charity, which has been dogged for years about its discriminatory approach to LGBT+ people, put out a warning to members in the US ahead of the Christmas season. The guidelines, published by Fox News pundit Todd Starnes, warn Salvation Army volunteers to stay away from discussing “hot topic issues like LGBTQ Marriage” after an “increased number of complaints regarding comments made on social media by Salvation […]

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Trump Administration Guts Transgender Rights Guidance

The Trump administration has quietly gutted transgender rights guidance for federal employees, telling agencies to treat people based on “biological sex.” ThinkProgress reports that revisions were made to public guidance on the website of the government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to remove transgender rights protections. The previous guidance, drawn up under President Barack Obama, instructed federal agencies to “review their anti-discrimination policies to ensure that they afford a non-discriminatory working environment to employees irrespective of their gender identity or perceived gender non-conformity.”A revision apparently made in the last week removed all mention of the words “transgender” and “gender non-conforming” while inserting […]

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Transgender Day of Remembrance: New Report Looks at High Levels of Violence

A new report has shed light on the horrific epidemic of violence against transgender people in the US, ahead of the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation report, released on November 19, looks at the high levels of violence against America’s transgender community, who are disproportionately more likely to face violent attacks than the general population. The report, titled “Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in America in 2018,” found that at least 22 transgender people have been murdered in the US so far this year. The actual number may be higher, as there is no official data […]

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‘NO GAYS ALLOWED’ Billboard Goes Up in Times Square

Cars drive through Times Square. The logo of the ‘No Gays Allowed’ ad campaign(Mario Tama/Getty) A billboard bearing the message “NO GAYS ALLOWED” has been installed in New York City’s iconic Times Square. NBC reports that the billboard, which reads “NO GAYS ALLOWED” on a blank white background, was installed on Tuesday and is set to remain in place until February. Despite the outwardly homophobic message, the Times Square billboard is not what it initially seems. The Times Square ad unit was actually placed as a protest against legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a shadowy ultra-conservative body that has brought several […]

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