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Takano to renew House Democrats’ push for the Equality Act

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U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), a co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, issued a statement Thursday pledging to introduce the Equality Act during this Congress, legislation that would extend federal anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ Americans.  The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in “employment, education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding housing, and public accommodations.”  Four previous versions were introduced in the House by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. The Biden administration and congressional Democrats have signaled […]

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ACT UP and GLAAD Protest Simon & Schuster’s ‘Denialist’ HIV Book

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Protesters organized by GLAAD and ACT UP New York demonstrated Monday at Simon & Schuster’s headquarters in Manhattan to demand that the publisher cease distributing a book that questions if HIV causes AIDS. The Real AIDS Epidemic: How the Tragic HIV Mistake Threatens Us All by Rebecca Culshaw is coming out Tuesday from Skyhorse Publishing, a distribution client of Simon & Schuster. That means Simon & Schuster is responsible for shipping the book and other functions. An open letter led by ACT UP NY and signed by more than 500 organizations and individuals was delivered to Simon & Schuster last week. It’s addressed […]

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Bill would require US foreign policy to promote LGBTQ, intersex rights

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Three lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require the U.S. to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad through its public policy. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) introduced the International Human Rights Defense Act. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has sponsored the bill in the U.S. Senate. Garcia, the former mayor of Long Beach, Calif., of Peruvian descent who represents California’s 42nd Congressional District, last November became the first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress. Garcia on Tuesday noted to the Washington Blade during a telephone interview the International Human Rights Defense Act is the first bill […]

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The spotlight of trans visibility is dimmer this year

State legislatures have introduced almost 400 anti-trans bills this year, and most of them focus on trans youth. These bills are drastically impacting their lives, restricting everything from how their gender identity is handled at school to the medical coverage they receive. Families are traveling for hours (sometimes moving permanently), crossing state lines to get the medical treatments they need and to escape bills and laws that could tear their families apart.  As the Director of the Youth & Family Program at Health Care Advocates International (HCAI), transgender youth regularly contact me from across the country for help, particularly from states with the […]

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Texas Bill Would Ban Pride Events In Public Schools

The Dallas Morning News reports: LGBTQ Pride celebrations could be banned in Texas schools under legislation up for debate Tuesday. The bill from Republican Rep. Ken King bars public schools from organizing programs “dedicated to celebrating or providing special instruction regarding a sexual preference.” “Having sexually-oriented celebrations at school, for all grades, is teaching our kids a sexual ideology – no matter who’s doing it,” he said. He added: “If Pride Week is caught up in that, fine. But I didn’t specify one group over another.” If a district does so, educators’ teaching permits could be suspended or terminated while school employees […]

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Minnesota Hopes to Become Refuge for Trans Minors Seeking Health Care

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Minnesota is advancing a bill to make the state a refuge for transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care and for their supportive parents. The state’s House of Representatives Friday approved House File 146, which “would prevent state courts or officials from complying with child removal requests, extraditions, arrests or subpoenas related to gender-affirming health care that a person receives in Minnesota,” as explained by Minnesota Public Radio. The bill passed by a vote of 68-62 after debate that stretched from Thursday night to early Friday morning. It now goes to the Senate. Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, has promised to sign it […]

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UK to end mpox vaccination rollout despite warning from World Health Organisation

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that it still considers mpox a public health emergency of international concern, just days after the UK confirmed it would wind down its vaccination campaign against the virus.  Men who have sex with men have been disproportionately affected in the mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) outbreak that began in May 2022.  In an update about the virus on 24 March, Dr Rosamund Lewis, from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said this was still the case.  Almost 90,000 cases and 97 deaths across more than 110 countries have been recorded since May last year. […]

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Vice president Kamala Harris backs Africa’s LGBTQ+ community in Ghana: ‘It’s a human rights issue’

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US Vice President Kamala Harris has spoken out in support of LGBTQ+ people in Africa, following the introduction of a devastating new law in Uganda that bans queer identities entirely. The 49th vice president of the US made her stance clear on Monday (27 March) during a press conference in Ghana.  Standing alongside Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, Harris said she felt “very strongly” about supporting the development of LGBTQ+ rights in Africa. “I will also say that this is an issue that we consider and I consider to be a human rights issue and that will not change,” she continued. […]

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Queer Ukrainian soldier calls for same-sex marriage to be legalised: ‘We can die any day’

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A queer Ukrainian solider has called for same-sex marriage to be legalised in the country as LGBTQ+ soldiers “could die tomorrow” and their partners would have no legal rights in an “unfair” system.  Anna “Kajhan” Zyablikova, who is serving in the 47th Brigade of Ukraine’s armed forces, said same-sex marriage should be legalised to allow LGBTQ+ couples the same legal rights heterosexual couples are afforded.  This would include the right to make the decision of whether to keep their partner on life support.  The 30-year-old told the i paper: “We have no legal rights to do that and in the case […]

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Trans woman says she was assaulted by a TSA agent at JFK Airport

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A transgender woman says she was assaulted and humiliated by a TSA agent at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. On Saturday, the woman posted a series of tweets describing the incident as well as a photo of herself crying in an airport bathroom. The alleged victim has since deleted the tweets and has made her Twitter account private.  The Biden administration just made travel a whole lot easier for transgender people with a series of policy changes. Retirement paperwork will get easier too. “Hi, so a TSA agent at JFK punched me in the genitalia, yelled at me […]

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