News

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New Jersey becomes Only Ninth State to Ban ‘Gay Panic’ Defense

The governor of New Jersey has signed a bill to officially ban the archaic ‘gay panic’ and ‘trans panic’ defence in the state. The new law, signed by Democratic governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday, prevents criminal defendants from claiming that they were provoked to violence after discovering the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity – an infamous legal defence used in several landmark cases to seek a lower sentence. Governor Murphy said in a release: “We will always stand with our LGBTQ+ community and promote full equality for all our residents. “Gay and trans panic defences are rooted in homophobia and abhorrent excuses […]

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Utah Bans Conversion Therapy for LGBTQ Children

The discredited practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ children is now banned in Utah, making it the 19th state and one of the most conservative to prohibit it. Supporters navigated a winding path to passage and some dissent remains, but barring it in Utah could give a boost to similar efforts in other right-leaning states, said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “It’s really given people a lot of hope,” said Minter, whose group has pushed for bans around the U.S. Virginia is considering a ban, and the issue could also come up in this year in Texas and […]

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White House Streams Video Of Pastor’s Claim That Homosexuality Is Caused By “Demonic Spirits”

The Independent reports: The White House has live-streamed a church service which saw the US vice-president speak and a bishop claim “the devil” causes homosexuality. After Mike Pence addressed the congregation in Tennessee, the preacher took to the pulpit to talk about same-sex relations in a sermon still available on the administration’s Youtube channel. “It is a demonic spirit that causes a woman to want to live with another woman,” he said. “It is a demonic spirit that causes a man to be attracted to another man.” The preacher, who has been named as the bishop Jerry Wayne Taylor, claimed the […]

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California Governor Asked to Pardon Late Gay Rights Leader Bayard Rustin

The California Legislature’s LGBTQ and black caucuses on Tuesday asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to posthumously pardon a civil rights leader who was jailed for having gay sex nearly 70 years ago. Bayard Rustin was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with being an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. He also helped plan other nonviolent boycotts and protests to end racial discrimination. In 1953, he was arrested on a charge of vagrancy when he was caught having sex with two men in a parked car after he gave a speech in Pasadena as part of a […]

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Trans Man becomes First Person in Kosovo to Legally Change Name, Gender on Passport

A trans man in Kosovo has become the first named person in the country to update his name and gender marker on his ID documents. Blert Morina won a two-year court battle to exercise his right to change the name and gender marker on his documents, requests that had previously been denied. In December, the Basic Court of Prishtina affirmed his right to change the name and sex marker on his documents – only the second time a court in the country had legally backed someone’s right to do so. The first person remained anonymous, according to Kosovo Two Point Zero. Morina, […]

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Bolsonaro Government Charges US Out Journalist Glenn Greenwald with Cybercrimes

“This is despicable, dangerous, and a crime against journalism.” Journalist Glenn Greenwald was reportedly charged with cybercrimes by Brazilian authorities Tuesday in connection to his reporting on corruption in the country, a move by the right-wing government of President Jair Bolsonaro that was quickly and forcefully condemned by progressives and journalists around the world. “This is beyond disturbing,” said Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Prosecutors claimed that Greenwald—who has lived in Brazil with his husband, David Miranda, for many years—was at the center of a “criminal conspiracy” to hack cellphones of government officials.00:0000:45 According to the New York […]

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Florida Republicans Submit 4 Anti-gay Bills on Last Day to File

Seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday, just hours before the deadline to file new bills for the coming legislative session. If passed, the bills would ban gender-affirming health care for transgender children, repeal municipal and county ordinances protecting LGBTQ workers, and legalize so-called gay conversion therapy in places that had banned the medically debunked practice. The state lawmakers — Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Sen. Dennis Baxley, Rep. Bob Rommel, Sen. Joe Gruters, Rep Michael Grant, Sen. Keith Perry, and Rep. Byron Donalds — together introduced the four pieces of legislation, each with a companion bill in the […]

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Democratic Lawmakers Call on ICE to Release Transgender Migrants

A group of 45 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday demanding the agency release all transgender migrants in its custody. “This already vulnerable population faces a heightened and unique set of injustices while in immigration detention,” the letter stated. “Transgender migrants and asylum seekers are particuarly vulnerable to sexual harassment, solitary confinement, physical assault, and medical neglect.” At least two transgender migrants have died in ICE custody in the past two years. Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez, a Honduran, died of complications from untreated HIV in 2018. Rodriguez did not receive antiretroviral therapy while in ICE custody, despite […]

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Worldwide Attitudes Towards Lesbians Are more Positive than Gay Men, Study Finds

Around the world, attitudes towards lesbians are more positive that they are towards gay men, according to new research. The study was published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science and looked at attitudes towards gay men and lesbian women in 23 countries, “representing both Western and non-Western societies”. The authors of the study analysed Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States. The researchers found that in every one of the 23 countries, lesbians were viewed less negatively than gay men. […]

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More than 300 Human Rights Activists were Killed in 2019, with 100 in Colombia

A total of 304 human rights defenders in 31 countries were killed in 2019 as space for those defending LGBT+ rights “remains extremely constrained”, a new report has revealed. The report by Front Line Defenders (FLD) detailed attacks on activists as they worked to defend the environment, free speech, LGBT+ rights and indigenous lands. Two thirds of the murders took place in Latin America, with Colombia emerging as the most dangerous country after 103 were killed in the past year. The Philippines was the second deadliest country with 43 killings, followed by Honduras, Brazil and Mexico. Eighty-five per cent of those killed had previously been threatened, either as […]

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