News

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US Marines Celebrate Pride Month and 10 Years since Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

The US Marine Corps has released a statement celebrating Pride month and a decade since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and one officer is on a mission to shut down homophobes who disagree. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was the official White House policy that barred openly gay, bisexual and lesbian people from serving in the US military. The Marine Corps released a statement in support of its LGBT+ members at the beginning of Pride month, which said: “During [Pride] month, we take the opportunity to recognise our LGBT service members and reflect upon the past. “We celebrate their successes and recognise […]

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The Smaller, Scrappier Queer Liberation March is Happening Sunday in NYC

What’s so bad about a rainbow burrito? If you’ve been following the rift in the L.G.B.T.Q. movement over the corporate embrace of Pride, the question may have crossed your mind. Last June, the West Village was a labyrinth of rainbows, with every bank branch and Shake Shack festooned with messaging for Pride Month. Chipotle sold limited-edition Pride merch, including tank tops with a rainbow burrito and the slogan “¿Homo Estas?” The hoopla—always big, but this time bigger—marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and culminated in the annual NYC Pride March, which drew some five million revellers and boasted sponsors including MasterCard, […]

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Russian Authorities ‘Accidentally’ Recognize Gay Couple’s Same-sex Marriage

An activist in Russia has claimed that authorities in the notoriously anti-LGBT+ country have recognised his same-sex marriage through a legal loophole. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Russia, and the country’s “gay propaganda” law prohibits the promotion of homosexuality. But a legal loophole in the country’s family law has led to Russian authorities unintentionally recognising the marriage of Igor Kochetkov and Kir Fyodorov, The Moscow Times reports. Because of the loophole, the Russian tax service was reportedly forced to grant Kochetkov a tax deduction on his husband’s behalf – a benefit commonly enjoyed by married couples. A loophole in the Family Code of Russia forced […]

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Lawmakers of Gabon Voted to Decriminalize Homosexuality

Lawmakers in the Central African country of Gabon just voted to decriminalise homosexuality, after making gay sex illegal just last year. In 2019, Gabon, on the west coast of Central Africa, criminalised same-sex relations with a penalty of up to six months in prison as well as a fine of 5 million CFA francs (£6,393). At the time, LGBT+ rights activists in Gabon said that the new law against homosexuality had “further sent the LGBT+ community underground and has created harassment”. But, according to Reuters, lawmakers in the country’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday, June 23, to revise the 2019 law […]

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90% of Americans Agree with Ruling Banning Workplace Discrimination for LGBT+ People

An incredible 90 per cent of people in the United States agree with the Supreme Court ruling banning workplace discrimination for LGBT+ people, according to a new poll. Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that LGBT+ people are entitled to protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. The surprise ruling extends sex-based employment discrimination protections to LGBT+ people in all 50 states. And a new nationally representative poll of 1,001 adults in America has found that the vast majority of the public support the ruling. The poll, which was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), […]

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AG Becerra Adds Idaho to Restricted State Travel List after Anti-trans laws

Effective July 1, California will restrict state-funded travel to Idaho as a result of two anti-trans bills signed into law despite “significant concerns” from that state’s attorney general, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office said in a press release.  Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bills 500 and 509 into law on March 30, 2020. The Washington Blade reported Saturday, June 20, that President Trump and his Administration support the anti-trans laws. Chris Johnson wrote: “U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced in a statement Friday the Trump administration would intercede in the lawsuit against the Idaho law, known as House Bill 500 and the Fairness in […]

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The Stonewall Inn Needs Your Help to Stay Open

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to save the historic Stonewall Inn, where the modern LGBT+ rights movement began, as it struggles during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2016, the Stonewall Inn became the first LGBT+ national monument in America, honouring its unique part in the history of the LGBT+ rights movement. But, after being shut down for three months, the historic New York venue is struggling The venue said that because of its “uncertain future” it was desperately in need of “community support” to  “help to save one of the LGBTQ+ communities most iconic institutions and to keep that history alive”. Organisers […]

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Tel Aviv Recognizes Same-Sex Marriages In Challenge To Law Allowing Only Religious Ceremonies

The Times of Israel reports: The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality on Sunday said it would allow cohabiting couples to register their relationship and enjoy marital rights, in a protest of the government’s refusal to recognize same-sex couples or those not wed under the state’s religious authorities. Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai said the move, coinciding with the country’s Pride Week, makes those who register eligible for housing tax discounts, as well as easing enrollment of their children in public daycares and schools. Though same-sex marriage is not technically illegal in Israel, there is no institution authorized to carry it out. In a system […]

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New Director of Trump’s Federal Media Agency Has Ties to Anti-LGBT+ Group

Michael Pack, the head of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) who was chosen by Donald Trump, has appointed a new federal agency director with ties to an anti-LGBT+ organisation. The USAGM is an independent agency which oversees state-run media outlets, for example Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and it says its mission is “to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy” in accordance with “broad foreign policy objectives of the United States”. According to CNBC, Pack terminated longtime board members within weeks of being appointed and replaced them with Trump loyalists. Now, he is reportedly moving to […]

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Black Lives Matter Forces LGBTQ Organization to Face its History of Racial Exclusion

An estimated 30,000 people converged in West Hollywood on Sunday to protest systemic racism and police brutality and to shine light on the specific needs of Black LGBTQ people. The event — which took place just ahead of the 50th anniversary of L.A.’s first pride event, originally called the Christopher Street West Parade — started out as a Black Lives Matter solidarity march, but it ultimately showed the divisions between two overlapping civil rights movements. The event’s initial organizers found themselves the recipients of backlash when they announced their plans in early June: Christopher Street West, or CSW, the historic, mostly […]

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