The Associated Press

A federal judge has thrown out a psychotherapist’s lawsuit challenging Maryland’s ban on treating minors with conversion therapy, the practice of trying to change a client’s homosexual orientation. U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow’s ruling on Friday rejected Christopher Doyle’s claims that the state law violates his First Amendment rights to free speech and religious freedom. The judge said prohibiting the practice of conversion therapy on minors doesn’t prevent licensed therapists from expressing their personal views about conversion therapy to minor clients. Roger Gannam, one of Doyle’s attorneys, said Monday that they will appeal the judge’s decision. Doyle is represented by […]

Female couples make up more than half of all same-sex households in the United States, but male couples dominate in cities with large gay populations. The U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the U.S. had almost 1 million same-sex households in 2017 (about 0.8 percent of all U.S. households), with female couples making up almost 52 percent of those households. The findings emerged in the bureau’s American Community Survey. Related NBC OUT ‘Bachelor’ franchise gets its first same-sex proposal Male couples dominated in cities with the largest gay populations, but the rate varied depending on the city. In San Francisco […]

A woman accused of hacking Capital One and at least 30 other organizations is a flight risk, a threat and should be kept locked up until her trial, U.S. prosecutors said in court documents filed ahead of a Friday detention hearing in Seattle. Paige Thompson, a former Amazon software engineer who goes by the online alias “erratic,” has a history of stalking and threatening to kill people and to get herself killed by police, prosecutors said in the documents. Police in Mountain View, California, said she also threatened to shoot up an undisclosed company in May, while she was living […]

A Kentucky print shop owner who refused to make a gay pride T-shirt argued before the Kentucky Supreme Court that he shouldn’t be compelled to promote messages that go against his religious beliefs. Blaine Adamson is owner of Hands-On Originals in Lexington and declined to print a shirt promoting an LGBT pride festival in 2012. The city’s Human Rights Commission said that refusal violated its gay-rights fairness ordinance. On Friday, the high court heard an attorney for the T-shirt maker argue that the First Amendment protects him from having to print that message. An attorney for the Human Rights Commission […]

Republican candidate for Louisiana governor Ralph Abraham has released a new TV ad that takes aim at abortion rights and the transgender community as he works to draw attention for his campaign. In the 30-second spot launched Thursday, the three-term congressman looks directly into the camera to establish what he calls “the truth.” The conservative hits several points in quick succession, declaring that “life begins at conception,” taxes are too high and he supports President Donald Trump. Related NBC OUT Trump admin avoids calling trans woman ‘she’ in Supreme Court brief With a chuckle, he wraps up with a swipe at […]

Kansas’ child welfare agency has drafted guidelines urging foster parents to allow LGBTQ kids in their care to “express themselves as they see themselves,” riling conservatives a little more than a year after the state granted legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that do not place children in LGBTQ homes. The Department for Children and Families issued draft “guidance” for “prudent parenting” in mid-July, six months after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly took office. It said foster homes should recognize LGBTQ children “by their preferred identity if it differs from their sex assigned at birth.” Conservatives read the document as a […]

Maine banned gay conversion therapy for minors on Wednesday, joining more than a dozen other states that have outlawed the controversial practice. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill Wednesday, and it will take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns next month. Conversion therapy aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the new law, professionals, including school psychologists, pharmacy technicians and social workers, who have advertised, offered or administered conversion therapy to a child could face discipline from licensing boards. Related NBC OUT Italy elects its first transgender mayor Maine joins 16 other states and […]