National

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Court overturns ruling that stripped mother of parental rights because she’s a lesbian

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The Michigan Court of Appeals has overturned a decision to remove a lesbian mother’s name from her children’s birth certificates. Lanesha Matthews and Kyresha LeFever had a custody battle for their twins, who were born before same-sex marriage was legalised nationwide in the United States. The couple had their children using LaFever’s egg, fertilised using donor sperm, which Matthews then carried. When the children were born both mothers’ names were listed on the birth certificates. However, the couple split in 2014 and in the custody battle, a Michigan judge ruled that Matthews’ name be removed from the birth certificates. The […]

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Wedding venue turns away gay couple ‘under the guise of Christianity’

A devastated same-sex couple say they were turned away from a popular wedding venue “under the guise of Christianity”. McCae Henderson and Ike Edwards got engaged on Valentine’s Day and began searching for wedding venues in North Carolina. They settled on Highgrove Estate, a romantic estate overlooking Lake Laurel in Fuquay-Varina. The first red flag came when the couple filled out an intake form on the estate’s website, which only provided spaces for the name of the “bride” and “groom.” “In the notes section I just said we were a groom and groom,” Edwards told ABC11. “It’s not like we can […]

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Queer Black lawmaker won’t be charged after arrest for knocking on governor’s door

Georgia lawmaker Park Cannon has vowed to continue knocking on the “doors of injustice” after it was confirmed she will not be prosecuted for knocking on the governor’s door. Cannon, an out, Black state representative, was arrested and forcibly removed from Georgia’s state capitol building  for knocking on governor Brian Kemp’s door as he signed a voting bill that has been condemned as racist. She was subsequently charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting the general assembly. Two weeks after her arrest, Fani Willis, district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, said the office will not file charges against Cannon, telling the Atlanta […]

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Sodomy laws that labeled gay people sex offenders challenged in court

Nearly 20 years after the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity, the legacy of sodomy bans is still felt across the United States. In 1993, then-18-year-old Randall Menges was charged under Idaho’s “crimes against nature” law for having sex with two 16-year-old males. All three worked and lived at Pratt Ranch, a cattle ranch in Gem County that doubled as a live-in foster program for troubled teenagers. Menges was convicted despite police reports indicating the activity was consensual, and the age of consent in Idaho when a defendant is 18 is 16 years old. After serving seven years in […]

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TN bill seeking to ban books ‘normalizing or supporting’ LGBT+ people inches closer to reality

A bill that would ban books that promote “LGBT issues and lifestyles” in public schools in Tennessee is inching closer to becoming law. HB 800 would prohibit public schools in Tennessee from using books or teaching materials that “promote, normalise, support or address controversial issues” – like LGBT+ issues or lifestyles or gender identity – are “inappropriate”. The bill said the promotion of “LGBT issues and lifestyles” should face the same restrictions “placed on the teaching of religion in public schools”. It added that educational materials that promote LGBT+ issues and lifestyles in public schools offends a “significant portion of students’ […]

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U.S. Pride organizers debate in-person vs. virtual events for 2021

Like LGBTQ Pride organizations in several of the nation’s largest cities, D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance is planning to hold several virtual Pride events during the traditional Pride month of June and is considering at least one in-person event for October — a smaller Pride parade. Also like other cities, the traditional June Capital Pride Parade and Festival, which have attracted more than 250,000 participants and spectators in past years, have been cancelled this year following last year’s cancellation, according to Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan Bos. Bos said a “reimagined” parade called Paint the Town With Pride is being planned […]

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Nebraska Supreme Court allows same-sex couple to adopt

The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that a lesbian couple can legally adopt a 3-year-old child who has lived with them since birth, overturning a lower court’s decision rejecting their petition. In July 2020, Dixon County Judge Douglas Luebe said that he had no jurisdiction to grant an adoption to the couple — identified by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska as K.H. and M.V., who asked to keep their names anonymous — because they were listed in their petition as “wife and wife,” according to the Nebraska Supreme Court. In his order, Luebe referred to a version of Black’s Law […]

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Montana passes religious freedom bill that will block healthcare for queer people

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The Montana legislature advanced a bill Wednesday (31 March) that would give the all-clear for entities to discriminate against LGBT+ people on the basis of “religious freedom”. The Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, otherwise known as Senate Bill 215, is on track to head to the desk of Republican governor Greg Gianforte– and he’s already signalled his intent to sign it. The bill, dubbed “dangerous” by activists, would enable service providers to deny queer residents certain goods and aid, from ordering a cake at a bakery to accessing PrEP. Supporters say this would increase legal protections for religious expression. “The free exercise […]

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7 out of 10 Americans support the LGBTQ Equality Act. Joe Manchin wants to kill it.

It was December 9, 2010. Joe Manchin, the former Democratic Governor of West Virginia, cast his first vote as a newly-sworn-in U.S. Senator. He voted against repealing the discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He was the only Democrat to do so. His reason? “As a Senator of just three weeks, I have not had the opportunity to visit and hear the full range of viewpoints from the citizens of West Virginia.” That’s the same Joe Manchin who in 1982 had begun his political career as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. After nearly three decades of […]

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LGBTQ students file class-action lawsuit against Department of Education

Lucas Wilson said he received conversion therapy from a student club called Band of Brothers at Liberty University from 2008 to 2012, when he was an undergraduate student. Wilson, now 30, said when he visited campus prior to enrolling, he saw an ad for “struggling with same-sex attraction.” “The biggest factor in why I chose Liberty was ultimately the conversion therapy program because I, in fact, believed that one could become straight,” Wilson said. He is now one of 33 LGBTQ students who are suing the Department of Education in a class-action lawsuit filed Monday. The students allege that they […]

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