Nick Duffy

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Utah Finally Passes LGBT-inclusive Hate Crime Law

Utah has finally added hate crime protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Republican Governor of Utah, Gary Herbert, signed a bill on Tuesday (April 2) that expands state hate crime statute to add protections for LGBT+ people for the first time. The bill passed after decades of stalled progress in the state, which had been one of 15 with no state-level provisions for anti-LGBT hate crimes. However, the proposal passed after the Mormon Church, which dominates politics in the state, signalled that it would not resist the change. LGBT+ rights group Equality Utah said the moment represents “an impressive […]

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United Airlines Adds Non-binary Booking Options

United Airlines has become the first major US airline to introduce non-binary options on its booking forms. The airline announced on Friday (March 22) that in addition to ‘male’ and ‘female’ booking options, customers will now also be able to pick either U (Undisclosed) or X (Unspecified), corresponding with markers available on passports and IDs in some areas. Customers will also be able to use the gender-neutral ‘Mx’ title. United Airlines ‘will train staff on preferred pronouns’ United also announced partnerships with LGBT+ rights groups Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and The Trevor Project to provide training to staff on “preferred pronouns and the […]

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IL Republicans Demand Parents Get ‘Opt-out’ from LGBT History Lessons

Republican state lawmakers have said parents should get an ‘opt-out’ from history lessons that relate to LGBT public figures. Rep. Darren Bailey, who represents the 109th district in the Illinois House of Representatives, made the claim as the body approved a bill on the issue. HB0246, which passed the House by a vote of 60 to 42 on Wednesday (March 13), expands education guidelines that state history lessons in Illinois public schools should reflect the “contributions of all people.” In addition to existing guidance that states “the teaching of history shall include a study of the role and contributions of […]

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HIV-preventing PrEP Drugs Aren’t Reaching Black Gay Men

The uptake of HIV-preventing PrEP drugs by gay and bisexual men faces a huge racial disparity in the US, experts have warned. The news comes from research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which was presented at an HIV conference on Friday (March 8). PrEP use faces ‘huge disparity’ between ethnicities The research presented by the CDC’s Dr Teresa Finlayson found that between 2014 and 2017 there was a 500% increase in the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis among gay an bisexual men “who are at substantial risk for HIV infection.” However, the surge in use has not been uniform across ethnicities. […]

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Utah Republicans Gut Bill to Ban Gay Cure Therapy

Republicans have gutted a bill that would have banned gay cure therapy in Utah. A group of lawmakers in Utah had fronted a bipartisan push to outlaw conversion therapy in the ultra-conservative state, putting forward a bill that would have placed a legal ban on conversion therapy for minors in the state. The legislation would have made “any practice or treatment that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity” of a minor unlawful. However, the bill failed to make it over its first legislative hurdle intact, with lawmakers on the Utah House Judiciary Committee opting to  move forward with an amended […]

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Germany Plans to Ban Gay Cure Therapy

Germany plans to push ahead with a ban on gay cure therapy, the country’s health minister has said. Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn, the country’s most senior gay politician, told newspaper Die Tageszeitung that he would seek a ban on the discredited practice. In the February 15 interview he said: “Homosexuality is not a disease and it doesn’t need to be cured. That’s why I’m in favour of a ban on conversion therapy. “I do not believe in these therapies because of my own sexual orientation. I [believe] that God has something in mind.” Spahn said the challenge was in “practical implementation” of a […]

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US Airlines to Offer Gender-neutral Booking Options for Non-binary Passengers

Major US airlines including Delta, JetBlue, United and American Airlines have agreed to allow passengers to book tickets without specifying a binary gender. The Airlines for America trade association has agreed a new industry standard which will end the practice of forcing passengers to pick between “male” or “female” on booking forms. An “unspecified” option will be added, in line with the five US states that already offer a gender X marker on state IDs for non-binary people. A spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast that the airlines had “recently approved a new international standard that will allow for ‘unspecified’ and ‘undisclosed’ […]

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Alan Turing Named Greatest Icon of the 20th Century by BBC’s Icons

Gay codebreaker Alan Turing has been named the greatest icon of the 20th century. Alan Turing prevailed in Tuesday’s (February 5) final of BBC Two Icons series, winning a public vote that saw him go up against Dr Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Ernest Shackleton, David Bowie, Muhammad Ali and Pablo Picasso. Alan Turing was persecuted for being gay During World War II, Turing worked at Bletchley Park to crack the German Enigma codes, which is widely believed to have led to the war ending earlier than expected. Turing, often hailed as the grandfather of modern computing, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 after having […]

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Pet Shop Boys Blast Trump ‘Bigotry’ on New Single

The Pet Shop Boys have released a new single that takes aim at President Donald Trump and Brexit, calling out “bigotry.” The pop duo, comprised of out singer Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, are hardly newcomers to pointedly political lyrics—many of their 1980s songs were inspired bythe AIDS crisis, while the band have also released a musical tribute to Alan Turingand set a speech about gay equality to music. However, their latest track “Give Stupidity a Chance” is more avowedly political than ever, putting leaders on blast on both sides of the Atlantic. Pet Shop Boys: Let’s shock and awe the world with idiotic bigotry […]

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Singapore’s Ban on Gay Sex Faces Legal Challenge

The colonial-era Singapore law banning gay sex is facing a legal challenge from LGBT+ rights activists. Section 377A of Singapore’s penal code has the same British colonial roots as the anti-gay law that was struck down in India in September 2018. The law bans gay sex in the city state, stipulating that any man who “commits, or abets the commission of, or procures…. any act of gross indecency with another male person” can be imprisoned for up to two years. In the wake of the ruling from India’s High Court, activists in Singapore are hoping to emulate its success with a […]

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