The Associated Press

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California enacts law to help LGBTQ military veterans

A new law in California will help military service members who were discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies because of their sexual or gender identities to reestablish their eligibility for Veterans Affairs benefits, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday. “For decades, our bravest heroes, men and women who wore the uniforms of the armed services had to hide who they really were, and many were other than honorably discharged if their sexuality was discovered,” Newsom said in a statement after announcing he had signed the bill. Gays and lesbians were banned in the military until the 1993 approval of “don’t […]

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Faculty and students sue Christian school over LGBTQ hiring ban

Divisions over LGBTQ-related policies have flared recently at several religious colleges in the United States. On Monday, there was a dramatic new turn at one of the most rancorous battlegrounds — Seattle Pacific University. A group of students, faculty and staff at the Christian university sued leaders of the board of trustees for refusing to scrap an employment policy barring people in same-sex relationships from full-time jobs at SPU. The 16 plaintiffs say the trustees’ stance — widely opposed on campus — is a breach of their fiduciary duties that threatens to harm SPU’s reputation, worsen enrollment difficulties and possibly […]

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‘Drag Kids’ event at Boise Pride becomes subject of political pushback

When Joseph Kibbe attended the first Boise Pride Festival in 1989, he and about two dozen other participants wore paper bags over their heads to hide their faces from potentially violent onlookers. At the first festival parade two years later, Kibbe and his friends were greeted by protesters with nooses in front of the Statehouse. “Boise was a very different place back then — it was not a safe time to be LGBTQIA,” he said. Still, for Kibbe — then a junior high student who faced frequent beatings at school, now the vice principal of the Boise Pride Festival board […]

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California may act as U.S. refuge for transgender youths

California would present itself as a haven for transgender youth facing discrimination in other states under a bill that advanced Monday, much as it is positioning itself as a sanctuary for those seeking abortions. The Assembly approved the measure without debate, 48-16, sending it to the Senate for a final vote before lawmakers adjourn at month’s end. The legislation is designed to provide legal refuge to parents from other states who risk having their transgender children taken away or being criminally prosecuted if they support their children’s access to gender-affirming procedures and other health care. Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener sought the […]

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U.S. sees progress on LGBTQ rights but equality is lacking, U.N. expert says

Enormous progress has been achieved in the last 50 years for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in the United States but unfortunately “equality is not yet within reach and in many cases not within sight” for LGBTQ communities, the independent U.N. expert on sexual orientation and gender identity said Tuesday. Victor Madrigal-Borloz told a U.N. press conference after a 10-day visit to the United States that he applauds President Joe Biden for “very powerful” executive actions during his first days in office seeking to eradicate discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ community. But he said he is “extremely […]

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Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

Pope Francis has met with a fourth group of transgender people who found shelter at a Rome church, the Vatican newspaper reported Thursday. L’Osservatore Romano said the encounter took place Wednesday on the sidelines of Francis’ weekly general audience. The newspaper quoted Sister Genevieve Jeanningros and the Rev. Andrea Conocchia as saying the pope’s welcome brought their guests hope. The Blessed Immaculate Virgin community in the Torvaianica neighborhood on Rome’s outskirts opened its doors to transgender people during the coronavirus pandemic. Francis previously met with some of them on April 27, June 22 and Aug. 3, the newspaper said. “No […]

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If monkeypox spreads through sexual contact, is it an STD?

For most of the six decades that monkeypox has been known to affect people, it was not known as a disease that spreads through sex. Now that has changed. The current outbreak is by far the biggest involving the virus, and it’s been designated a global emergency. So far, officials say, all evidence indicates that the disease has spread mainly through networks of men who have sex with men. “It clearly is spreading as an STI (sexually transmitted infection) at this point,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. WHO declares monkeypox a global health emergency as […]

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Monkeypox outbreak in the U.K. may be peaking, health officials say

British health authorities said Friday the monkeypox outbreak across the country may be peaking and that the epidemic’s growth rate has slowed. The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said in a statement there were “early signs that the outbreak is plateauing,” with 2,859 cases detected since May. No deaths have been reported. Last month, authorities estimated the outbreak was doubling in size about every two weeks, but the number of new infections has dropped in recent weeks. “While the most recent data suggest the growth of the outbreak has slowed, we cannot be complacent,” said Dr. Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging […]

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N.Y. man who sent threats to LGBTQ groups gets 30 months

A 74-year-old retired schoolteacher from a New York City suburb was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday for mailing dozens of violent threats to LGBTQ affiliated individuals, groups and businesses over several years. According to prosecutors, Robert Fehring threatened to blow up the Stonewall Inn, a historic bar in Manhattan considered the birthplace of the gay rights movement. He also threatened to place explosives at 2021 New York City Pride march that would “make the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting look like a cakewalk,” referring to the 2016 attack in which 49 people were killed and dozens wounded at […]

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Republican attorneys general sue federal government over LGBTQ school meal guidance

More than 20 Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Joe Biden’s administration over a Department of Agriculture school meal program that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The challenge, led by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, claims that the federal government is attempting to force states and schools to follow anti-discrimination requirements that “misconstrue the law.” The coalition of attorneys general are hoping for a similar result to a separate challenge from earlier this month when a Tennessee judge temporarily barred two federal agencies from enforcing directives issued by Biden’s administration that extended protections for LGBTQ […]

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