Features

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Chanel Scurlock, a Black Trans Woman, was Murdered in North Carolina

In the early hours of 6 June, North Carolina authorities found the body of Chanel Scurlock, a black transgender woman, in Lumberton. They found Scurlock’s body in a field near Old Town Road in the city. She was shot to death and her car was missing. Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins told local news outlet The Robesonianinvestigators have ‘great leads’ into her death. ‘Robeson County sheriff’s detectives are currently working diligently to bring closure to a grieving family,’ Wilkins added. ‘This cowardly act has to be addressed and a person or persons will be held accountable and brought to justice.’ The Robesonian and other outlets, however, […]

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YouTube Reverses Decision, Starts Removing Supremacist Channels

In an about-face, YouTube announced it would start removing channels promoting extreme views. This included reversing a decision about right-wing commentator Steven Crowder. The video platform has recently received a slew of criticism for its handling of the Crowder situation. It all began when YouTube announced an investigation into Crowder after journalist Carlos Maza claimed Crowder was targeting him with racist and homophobic harassment. A few days later, YouTube said Crowder’s videos did not violate its harassment policies. All of that changed on Wednesday (5 June) with a new policy change from the company. YouTube bans extremism The company said in a blog post it would be banning video ‘alleging that a group is superior […]

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LGBT Americans Don’t Identify with Faith Groups, but Most still Believe in God

A new analysis has found that three-quarters of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans believe in God, but many don’t identify as part of an organised religion. The finding comes from a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study. According to the survey data, 77 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in America say that they believe in God, compared to 89 percent to straight adults. But despite three-quarters of gay adults believing in God, only 59 percent of LGB respondents identify as a Christian or another non-Christian faith, compared to 78 percent for heterosexuals. Although lesbian, gay […]

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Texas Sues San Antonio Over Airport Chick-Fil-A Ban

The Statesman reports: Escalating the fight over Chick-fil-A’s religious rights, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Antonio on Monday as part of his investigation into the city’s decision to reject the chicken chain as an airport vendor. The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Travis County, seeks a court order requiring San Antonio to turn over emails and other internal communications in which council members and city employees discussed the Chick-fil-A contract with each other and outsiders. On Monday, Paxton repeated allegations that San Antonio politicians had engaged in religious discrimination, adding that Chick-fil-A’s leaders are “well-known for their […]

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Trump Administration Restricts HIV Testing and Research with New Policy

On Wednesday (5 June), the Trump Administration implemented a new policy ending research done by government scientists using fetal tissue. This severely limits research done on HIV. According to the Washington Post, the Administration also canceled a university’s multi-million dollar laboratory contract. The university used fetal tissue in testing new HIV treatments. ‘Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration,’ the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement. The tissue used in such research comes from elective abortions. Many scientists and researchers say there are no other alternative approaches […]

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YouTube Says Anti-gay Slur ‘Does Not Violate’ Harassment Rules

YouTube have insisted that a right-wing influencer who targeted a journalist for years with homophobia did not violate the website’s hate speech policies. Carlos Maza, a videographer for US news site Vox, publicly complained about the persistent abuse from a right-wing YouTuber, Steven Crowder. The Twitter thread went viral, prompting the Google-owned platform to review Maza’s claims. However, the company concluded that Crowder’s comments did not violate guidelines. What happened? In a winding Twitter thread posted last week (31 May), Maza sketched out a situation that has spanned years involving homophobic and racist epithets thrown in videos. This included when the host attacked […]

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‘We Are Concerned’: Dallas Police Chief Says of Second Transgender Woman’s Death in a Month

The body of a black transgender woman pulled from White Rock Lake in northeast Dallas on Saturday evening “showed obvious signs of homicidal violence,” the Dallas police chief said. The victim, identified as Chynal Lindsey, 26, is the second black transgender woman to be found dead in Dallas in less than a month. “We are concerned,” Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall told reporters at a news conference Monday. “We are actively and aggressively investigating this case and we have reached out to our federal partners to assist us in these efforts.” Police released photos of Lindsey, who was also known […]

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New Bud Light Pride Bottle to Raise Funds for GLAAD

Bud Light has released a limited-edition rainbow coloured aluminium bottle to raise funds for GLAAD to celebrate World Pride. The bottles will be available in bars across the United States during the month of June, and Bud Light will donate $1 to GLAAD for each case sold up to $150,000. Bud Light debuted the bottles at the GLAAD Media Awards, which took place last weekend in New York City. The campaign marks the latest in a 20 year partnership between Bud Light and GLAAD. Bud Light is ‘for everyone to enjoy’ Andy Goeler, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, said the company has […]

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Beheaded, Gunned Down and Stoned to Death: 369 Trans People Killed this Year

Trans people have been beheaded, gunned down and stoned to death, according to a new report. It highlights the 369 trans, non-binary and gender-variant people, at least, who were murdered in the 12 months from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018. 28 of the trans murder victims were reported to be teenagers, with some as young as 16. There were five beheadings. Nine people were stoned to death.The majority of the people killed were trans women of color, often gunned down or beaten to death. The Transgender Murder Monitoring Project has released this update in time for Transgender Day of Remembrance tomorrow (20 […]

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Why Do 0% of American Muslims Identify as Gay or Lesbian?

A recent survey has found 0% of American Muslims identify as gay or lesbian. The ISPU research interviewed 804 American Muslims. They found not one identified as gay or lesbian. Around 4% identified as bisexual and 2% said they were ‘something else’. Another 2% refused to answer the question’.D There are, of course, LGBTI people who identify as Muslim in the United States. CNN interviewed members of progressive mosques, like Masjid al-Rabia. The mosque is intended to be women-centered, anti-racist, LGBTI affirming, and welcoming to many Islamic traditions. Muslims for Progressive Values have eight ‘inclusive communities’ in the United STates. Berkeley’s […]

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