News

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U.S. provides support to LGBTQ groups in Ukraine, surrounding countries

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The special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad on Friday said she and her office continue to provide support to advocacy groups in Ukraine and in countries that border it. Jessica Stern told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview that she has held “multiple roundtables” with Ukrainian activists and organizations “to make sure that my office and I both have the relationships and then getting information directly from people on the frontlines.” Stern also noted she has also spoken with LGBTQ rights organizations in Poland, Hungary and other countries that “would be receiving LGBTQI Ukrainian refugees” […]

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Bill promotes California as U.S. refuge for transgender youth

California could provide legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families under a proposal announced Thursday that joins a growing list of initiatives from the nation’s most populous state aimed at counterbalancing actions in Texas and other conservative places. Democratic state lawmakers said they will introduce legislation to offer California as a safe haven for parents in other states who risk having their transgender children taken away or from being criminally prosecuted for supporting their children’s access to gender-affirming procedures and other health care. The measure is a response to moves in several Republican-dominated states and particularly Texas, where […]

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Kosovo MPs reject bid to legalise same-sex unions: ‘Homophobes have no place in parliament’

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Lawmakers have rejected legislation that would have made Kosovo the first Muslim-majority country in the world to legalise same-sex civil unions. Kosovo wants to join the European Union, and the bid to introduce same-sex marriage was part of modernising efforts by prime minister Albin Kurti’s government, which also tried to introduce other rights for minorities and business reforms But after hours of debate, just 28 out of MPs out of 120 voted in favour of the motion with some members of Kurti’s Vetevendosje party voting against it, according to Euractiv. Many against the draft code cited religious beliefs and “family values”. Vetevendosje representative Labinote Demi-Murtezi said […]

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Ukraine’s LGBT+ leaders say fleeing isn’t an option: ‘We have to save our country’

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With Ukraine defending itself from Russia’s brutal war of aggression, the country’s LGBT+ activists have found themselves playing a new role. War is an equaliser, Kyiv Pride director Lenny Ensom tells PinkNews. “The bomb doesn’t ask you what is your identity, the bomb just falls,” he explains. He hasn’t been able to get much sleep since the invasion started, as the sound of shelling is never far away. On Tuesday night (15 March), a building in his district was hit. “It’s like Russian roulette. They just hit and you don’t know where the bomb will land.” As director of Kyiv Pride, he’s dedicated much of his […]

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AZ LGBT+ Group Pressures HRC; others to stop donating to Sen. Sinema

A liberal group that helped push EMILY’s List to cut ties with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) over her opposition to changing Senate rules has a new target in its pressure campaign: the Human Rights Campaign. The Arizona Coalition to End the Filibuster has helped organize an open letter to the LGBTQ organization, which was first shared with POLITICO, urging it to withdraw financial support from Sinema until she reverses her position and supports eliminating the filibuster. The letter also calls for donors to HRC to stop funding the group unless it backs away from the senator. “The toll of Sinema’s obstruction — which […]

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Answering the call for life-saving tech, PowerOn issues grants to 32 LGBTQ centers

After its most prodigious grant application period to date, national tech grantor PowerOn is awarding 32 LGBTQ+ organizations with technology through the program’s 2022 Mobile Mini Grant. These laptops, tablets, and cell phones will enable the recipients to serve marginalized LGBTQ+ community members, providing mental health care, emergency food services, and crucial social support, among many other life-saving services. This grant is just the first that PowerOn will offer in 2022. LGBT Tech, PowerOn’s parent organization, launched the Mobile Mini Grant last year with backing from T-Mobile in response to the outcry for additional resources from LGBTQ+ organizations to serve […]

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LGBT+ Russians live in fear of Putin’s next deadly move – but fleeing isn’t so easy

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Putin’s war in Ukraine is part of a mission to turn back the clock to the Soviet era – a prospect that terrifies LGBT+ Russians. Maria, an LGBT+ activist in Russia whose name has been changed to protect her identity, says queer people have been fleeing her country since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine – which many agree is all part of a terrifying quest to bring Russia back to its former dominance. That vision, she says, does not include LGBT+ people. When Maria speaks to PinkNews over Zoom, she’s quick to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine as a war. That […]

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Biden administration meets with Florida LGBTQ students over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill

Biden administration officials held a closed-door meeting Thursday with several Florida LGBTQ students and their families about the state’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill, the Education Department said. The legislation — officially named the Parental Rights in Education Act — would prohibit “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in Florida primary schools. Its passage in Florida’s House and Senate in recent weeks sparked national debate. At Thursday’s virtual roundtable, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and the assistant secretary of health and human services for health, Dr. Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender Senate-confirmed federal official, reaffirmed support for LGBTQ youths and their families. […]

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Here’s what Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill would do, and what it wouldn’t do

Debate over state legislation that affects the LGBTQ community rarely leaves the halls of state capitols. But Florida’s Parental Rights in Education act — which critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — has suddenly sparked a national war of words. In recent weeks, leaders of global corporations, editorial boards of major newspapers and Hollywood actors have all weighed in on the proposed legislation, with some calling it “deeply disturbing” and others “noncontroversial.” Kate McKinnon ripped into the bill during a recent “Weekend Update” segment on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” The hosts of the ABC talk show “The View” mulled over the […]

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Oklahoma university allegedly fires professor over gay guest speaker

A private Christian college in Oklahoma has come under fire for terminating a professor who says he was let go for bringing an LGBTQ guest speaker to his classroom.  Michael O’Keefe taught graphic design at Oklahoma Christian University for more than 40 years before being fired March 7, NBC affiliate KFOR in Oklahoma City reported.  O’Keefe’s lawyer, Kevin Jacobs, accused the school of discrimination and said the school unfairly disciplined the longtime professor.  “Letting students expect a world where you may be different is the message Mr. O’Keefe wanted his students to hear. That’s the message this speaker delivered, not an […]

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