News

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Supreme Court’s religious school ruling signals ‘dangerous road’ for LGBTQ rights, advocates say

A Supreme Court decision allowing taxpayer dollars to help pay for tuition at schools that offer religious instruction has sparked concerns about the potential implications of the ruling on LGBTQ rights.  In a 6-3 vote, the court ruled Tuesday that Maine could not prohibit parents from using a state-funded tuition assistance program to pay for their children to attend private religious schools while permitting them to do so in private secular schools. The two schools cited in the case have a history of homophobic and transphobic policies.  The ruling in Carson v. Makin is a continuation of the conservative-majority court’s recent willingness to poke holes in […]

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National Park Service to open Stonewall visitor center dedicated to LGBTQ historyzachar

The first National Park Service visitor center focused on teaching LGBTQ history will open right next door to New York City’s historic Stonewall Inn. Pride Live, the LGBTQ advocacy group spearheading the project, announced Tuesday that the Stonewall Inn — the site of a June 1969 uprising that’s widely considered a major milestone in the modern gay rights movement — will be reunited with its neighboring building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood to “commemorate the events of the Stonewall Rebellion in their authentic locations,” according to a news release.  How the Stonewall riots 50 years ago inspired the LGBTQ movement JUNE 28, 201901:20 The […]

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California steps into the post-Roe future

California has been preparing for this moment for months. The Golden State, along with a number of Democratic strongholds, has been working to shore up its abortion protections in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. But no other state has created such a comprehensive strategy — a legislative bill package with more than a dozen proposals, new funding to expand abortion access and a proposed November ballot measure that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state Constitution. The Supreme Court decision, on a 5-4 vote, clears the way […]

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Biden Admin Proposes Protections For LGBTQ Students

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration proposed a dramatic overhaul of campus sexual assault rules on Thursday, acting to expand protections for LGBTQ students, bolster the rights of victims and widen colleges’ responsibilities in addressing sexual misconduct. The proposal, announced on the 50th anniversary of the Title IX women’s rights law, is intended to replace a set of controversial rules issued during the Trump administration by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The proposal is almost certain to be challenged by conservatives, and it is expected to lead to new legal battles over the rights of transgender students in schools, especially in […]

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Thomas wants the Supreme Court to overturn landmark rulings that legalized contraception, same-sex marriage

The Supreme Court must revisit and overrule past landmark decisions that legalized the right to obtain contraception, the right to same-sex intimacy and the right to same-sex marriage, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote Friday. Thomas, in a concurring opinion to the court’s precedent-breaking decision overturning Roe v. Wade and wiping out constitutional protections for abortion rights, said that he would do away with the doctrine of “substantive due process” and explicitly called on the court to overrule the watershed civil rights rulings in Griswold v. Connecticut, Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges. Griswold was a 1965 Supreme Court decision that established the right for […]

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High school students get threatened with machine gun while rallying for bullied trans classmate

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Students at a Washington state high school Monday staged a walk-out in solidarity with a trans student, who was beaten in the school’s hallways the week before. The walk-out prompted a threat by another student “to aim a machine gun” at the rallying students, according to Kalama police. The Kalama Middle and High Schools, which share a campus, were put into lockdown. Last week, a transgender student was assaulted in the school’s halls just as students were leaving for the day. Witnesses say another student repeatedly kicked the transgender student, who is a boy, with steel-toe boots, while yelling homophobic […]

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LGBTQ-affirming high school in Alabama has its first graduating class

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In Birmingham, Alabama, families, and friends of students of Magic City Acceptance Academy attended the charter school’s inaugural graduation ceremony. MCAA is a charter school that promises an “LGBTQ-affirming learning environment” for students who “have dropped out, are not thriving at traditional schools.” Although the classes are small, 12 seniors graduated this year, the hearts of the school’s community remain large as crowds of families cheered on the graduates with lots of pride, appreciation, and love. In its early stages, MCAA overcame three rejections from the Alabama Public Charter School Commission. However, the school won its approval and opened its […]

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Frameline 46 Review: “Pure Grit” Directed by Kim Bartley

Growing up queer on Wyoming’s Wind River reservation, Sharmaine Weed has faced more than her share of troubles—but her love of extreme bareback horseracing has sustained her throughout. A ten-time undefeated champion until she’s forced to give up racing to care for her sister after a terrible accident, Sharmaine finds solace and support in her burgeoning relationship with Savannah, a city girl who moves to the rez to help her care for her family. When the two young women relocate to Denver to escape the increasingly toxic atmosphere at home, Sharmaine finally earns enough cash to realize her dream of […]

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Students hand university president rainbow flags to protest ban on gay employees

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Students and alumni at Seattle Pacific University have been staging a sit-in for weeks, protesting the private Christian university’s policy banning employees from being gay. The protest culminated with students handing rainbow flags to SPU President Pete Menjares in exchange for their diplomas at their graduation ceremony. The protests came in response to a decision by SPU’s board of trustees in May not to change the school’s “Employee Lifestyle Expectations,” which bar employees from engaging in “sexual behavior that is inconsistent with the University’s understanding of Biblical standards.” According to the policy, that includes same-sex sexual activity. “Employees who engage in any […]

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Transgender journalists refuse to provide Pride coverage for The Guardian due to transphobic content

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Two transgender journalists are pulling out of the Guardian’s Pride special coverage due to the paper’s alleged “ingrained prejudice against trans women.” In a letter to the U.K. newspaper’s bosses, freelance journalists Freddy McConnell and Vic Parsons said they were declining all future work with The Guardian. They were commissioned to write pieces about their experiences of being transgender for the paper’s upcoming Pride special. ADVERTISING Related: Trans man is fighting to not be called “mother” on his child’s birth certificate The pair say they have a “moral duty to stand in absolute solidarity” with transgender women and trans feminine people who are receiving […]

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