Top Stories

/ /

Vatican declares surrogacy & gender-affirming care violations of human dignity

,

The Vatican has issued a declaration listing “gender theory,” gender-affirming care, and even surrogacy as “violations of human dignity” alongside war, poverty, human trafficking, and other actual atrocities. On Monday, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department in charge of religious discipline for the Catholic Church, released its “Dignitas Infinita.” The 20-page document has been in the works for the past five years and was approved by Pope Francis in March, according to the Associated Press. It calls for unconditional respect for human dignity regardless of “the person’s ability to understand and act freely,” reiterating Catholic teachings opposing abortion […]

/ /

Lesbian News publisher Ella Matthes has died at 81

,

Ella Matthes, the longtime publisher and editor of Lesbian News Magazine, died March 16 at a hospital in Norwalk, Calif. She was 81 years old, and the cause was a heart attack, according to a press release. She ran Lesbian News Magazine, commonly known as the LN, from 1994 until 2022. The LN was North America’s longest-running lesbian publication. When it was founded in 1975 in Southern California by Jinx Beer, it was the lone voice for lesbian issues (The Ladder, published by the Daughters of Bilitis, had ceased publication three years earlier) and evolved throughout the years under Matthes’s leadership. The press release calls it “the nation’s foremost voice for […]

/ /

Michigan passes landmark law decriminalizing surrogacy & protecting LGBTQ+ parentage rights

,

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a law on Monday that adds crucial protections for LGBTQ+ couples using fertility treatments to build a family.  The Michigan Family Protection Act includes a series of provisions to protect families of all kinds. Most notably for the LGBTQ+ community, it changes “outdated state law to treat LGBTQ+ families equally and eliminate the need for them to go through a costly and invasive process to get documentation confirming their parental status,” as a press release from the governor’s office explains, adding that “Even if they move to a state that does not respect these basic rights, these […]

/ /

New York can take legal action against county’s ban on female trans athletes, judge says

 New York state officials may continue to take legal action against a county outside New York City that has banned transgender players from women’s and girls teams, a judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury denied Nassau County’s request for a temporary restraining order against state Attorney General Letitia James, saying the Long Island county “falls far short of meeting the high bar for securing the extraordinary relief.” Among other things, Choudhury said the county failed to “demonstrate irreparable harm,” which she said was a “critical prerequisite” for such an order. The ruling, however, doesn’t address the legality of the […]

/ /

These are the most challenged library books in America — yes, most are LGBTQ+

,

The American Library Association has released its list of the 10 most challenged books of 2023, and seven of the 10 were challenged — that is, subject to ban attempts — at least in part for LGBTQ+ content. Several of them are by or about people of color. “In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” ALA President Emily Drabinski said in a press release. “At ALA, we are fighting for the freedom to choose what you want to read. […]

/ /

LGBTQ+ EuroGames to be held in the UK for the first time

,

Cardiff has been chosen to host the EuroGames in 2027, marking the first time the LGBTQ+-inclusive event has been held in the UK.  LGBTQ+ sports development and inclusion organisation, Pride Sports Cymru, has been successful in ensuring that Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ sporting event would be staged in the Welsh capital. The first EuroGames, governed by the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation, was held in The Hague in The Netherlands in 1992 and this year’s event will be staged in the Austrian capital, Vienna, in July. Up to 10,000 athletes, including transgender sportsmen and women, are expected to descend on […]

/ /

U.N. rights body adopts first resolution to protect rights of intersex people

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday voted to adopt a resolution designed to protect the rights of intersex people, the first initiative of its kind that diplomats and rights groups described as an landmark moment for human rights. Twenty-four countries voted in favor, twenty-three abstained and none voted against the resolution, which was spearheaded by Finland, South Africa, Chile and Australia. The U.N. has cited experts as saying that 1.7% of babies are born intersex, defined as having sex characteristics that do not fit binary notions of male or female. The resolution calls on states to “combat discrimination, […]

/ / / /

Victory! Lambda Legal Announces Settlement of Case on Behalf of Former Military Cadet and Midshipman Living with HIV

Lambda Legal and co-counsel Winston & Strawn LLP, Perkowski Legal, PC, and Scott Schoettes today announced they have reached a settlement with the Department of Defense (DoD) in a lawsuit filed in 2018 on behalf of a former Navy midshipman, Kevin Deese, and a former Air Force cadet, John Doe (a pseudonym), who were denied commissions after graduating from their respective service academies because they are living with HIV. The settlement provides for Deese and Doe to be commissioned as officers in recognition of the status and military careers they qualified for and earned years ago.  “We are gratified that our […]

/ /

Man who contracted HIV after being raped warns of dangers of drink spiking

,

New statistics have revealed the alarming prevalence of drink spiking in the LGBTQ+ community, with one man telling of the experience that left him cutting himself off from work, family, friends and “anything that looked towards the future I didn’t think I would ever have”.  Released on Thursday (4 April), the Ladbible Group and Stamp Out Spiking study surveyed 2,063 people aged between 16 and 24, in an effort to understand the rise in the number of drinks being spiked.  “Spiking” refers to when someone is given alcohol or drugs without their consent, usually in a drink. A person might spike a […]

/ /

1 in 3 LGBTQ adults say they’ve been treated unfairly by a health care provider

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer adults are twice as likely as their non-LGBTQ counterparts to report having had negative health care experiences over the last three years, according to a new report. One-third (33%) of LGBTQ adults say they were treated unfairly or with disrespect or had at least one negative experience with a health care provider, compared to 15% of non-LGBTQ adults, according to a new report by KFF, a health care and polling nonprofit formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.  Of the LGBTQ adults who reported negative experiences, 61% said a provider assumed something about them without […]

«‹ 222 223 224 225›»