National

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Bill would require US foreign policy to promote LGBTQ, intersex rights

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Three lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require the U.S. to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad through its public policy. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) introduced the International Human Rights Defense Act. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has sponsored the bill in the U.S. Senate. Garcia, the former mayor of Long Beach, Calif., of Peruvian descent who represents California’s 42nd Congressional District, last November became the first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress. Garcia on Tuesday noted to the Washington Blade during a telephone interview the International Human Rights Defense Act is the first bill […]

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Texas Bill Would Ban Pride Events In Public Schools

The Dallas Morning News reports: LGBTQ Pride celebrations could be banned in Texas schools under legislation up for debate Tuesday. The bill from Republican Rep. Ken King bars public schools from organizing programs “dedicated to celebrating or providing special instruction regarding a sexual preference.” “Having sexually-oriented celebrations at school, for all grades, is teaching our kids a sexual ideology – no matter who’s doing it,” he said. He added: “If Pride Week is caught up in that, fine. But I didn’t specify one group over another.” If a district does so, educators’ teaching permits could be suspended or terminated while school employees […]

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Biden ally to take on school culture wars as White House weighs broader response

 A top White House ally plans to paint Republicans’ focus on issues around race, gender and sexual identity as part of a GOP strategy to undermine public education as White House officials debate how forcefully to engage in the so-called culture wars dominating the right. In remarks prepared for the National Press Club on Tuesday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is expected to say state and local laws that ban certain types of books or restrict what can be taught in the classroom are “fueling hostility and fear” and aren’t serving students, parents or teachers, according to an advance copy of her […]

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New Mexico Gov Signs Statewide LGBTQ Protections

Legislation signed into law Friday will expand protections under the New Mexico Human Rights Act and remove the requirement that name changes be published in a newspaper. Supporters of the two bills say they will strengthen LGBTQ rights by updating requirements that prohibit discrimination against protected classes and allowing people to more easily change their name to match their gender identity. Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality New Mexico, an advocacy group, said the legislation comes as the transgender community is targeted by hundreds of bills in other states. Just this week, Arkansas approved a bill restricting bathroom access at […]

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At least 15 US states considering cruel Don’t Say Gay bills to stop LGBTQ+ school discussions

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Following in the footsteps of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, more states in the US are seeking to restrict LGBTQ+ discussions in schools. In at least 15 states, new laws aiming to stifle LGBTQ+ discussions in school are being considered. Data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also found that some places are set to go even further than Florida with restrictions. A new bill in Oregon would stop any sort of discussion on sexual identity in schools from kindergarten to the third grade without parental consent.  An Iowa bill that recently passed through the state House would stop discussions about gender […]

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LGBTQ+ suicide helpline inundated with harassment from conservatives, staff say

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Staff at The Trevor Project, one of the largest LGBTQ+ youth advocacy groups in the US, have said that they aren’t being adequately supported with regard to the homophobic and transphobic harassment they face.  Frontline staff, dealing with emotionally draining cases coming through its crisis support hotline, are said to be those suffering the most.  Last year, the hotline was swamped with fake calls, resulting in increased waiting times for those actually in need of help, Vice News has reported. This comes amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ moves taken by conservatives in the US, including Don’t Say Gay legislation and various attempts […]

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Tory immigration bill could condemn LGBTQ+ refugees to death: ‘Immoral, disgraceful and indefensible’

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The UK government is facing fierce condemnation from opposition MPs and senior Tories over its “immoral, ineffective and incredibly expensive” Illegal Migration Bill. The bill has been devised by the Tory government to reduce or stop “small boat crossings”across the English Channel.  If it becomes law, all adults who arrive in the UK via the Channel or in the back of a lorry will be detained for 28 days. They would then be sent back to their country of origin or on to a third country like Rwanda. Families with children could also be detained and deported. Opposition MPs, human rights advocates, […]

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When parents are the activists: PFLAG celebrates 50 years of LGBTQ advocacy

In 1982, David Holladay was 16 years old and about to come out to his mother. They lived in a small town in Oklahoma and attended a Baptist church. This was the era of Rock Hudson and Elton John and Billie Jean King, people whose names, he said, “were never far away from something derogatory.”  When Holladay considered his future as a gay person, he saw it only as “the fog of the unknown.”  What Holladay didn’t know then was that a movement was brewing that he and his family would be a part of for decades to come. He […]

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Less than 10% of 2022’s anti-LGBTQ state bills became law, report finds

State legislators across the country proposed a record number of bills targeting LGBTQ rights last year, but less than 1 in 10 have become law, a report published Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign found.  The LGBTQ advocacy group’s 2022 State Equality Index, an annual review of state legislation and policies that affect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, found that state legislators introduced 315 bills that the Human Rights Campaign described as “anti-equality.” Just 29 became law.  The majority of the new laws target transgender minors. In the last three years, 18 states have banned trans […]

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Joe Biden calls out “terrible” & “sinful” laws targeting trans youth

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On the heels of the White House vocally condemning a call to eliminate transgender people, President Joe Biden called out Florida for attacking transgender youth. “What’s going on in Florida, is as my mother would say, close to sinful,” Biden told out actor Kal Penn on The Daily Show in an interview that will air later today. The White House press secretary was done being talked over by Simon Ateba. “It’s just terrible what they’re doing,” he continued. “It’s not like you know, a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man,’ or […]

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