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Mormon church comes out in support of same-sex marriage law

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it would back proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages, marking the latest show of support for the measure from conservative-leaning groups. The nearly 17-million member, Utah-based faith said in a statement that church doctrine would continue to consider same-sex relationships to be against God’s commandments. Yet it said it would support rights for same-sex couples as long as they didn’t infringe upon religious groups’ right to believe as they choose. “We believe this approach is the way forward. As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of […]

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LGBTQ+ activists are ‘battle-ready’ for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid

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The prospect of another Donald Trump presidency would pose a “serious risk” to LGBTQ+ rights, but queer advocates say they’re “battle-ready”. On Tuesday (15 November), Trump announced he would be running for president in 2024, making him the first president in history to be attempting another presidential bid following impeachment. As the most anti-LGBTQ+ president in modern history, he couldn’t help including a transphobic dig in his announcement from Mar-a-Lago, insisting that if elected, he would not “let men… participate in women’s sports”. During the torturous four years that Trump was in office, he relentlessly attacked the LGBTQ+ community, stripping discrimination protections, banning trans people from […]

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Kevin Spacey to be charged with seven more sexual offences in UK

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Actor Kevin Spacey is to be charged with a further seven sexual offences after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. The Crown Prosecution Service has said Spacey will face charges over alleged offences against one man between 2001 and 2004. The charges include three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police allowed for further charges against the 63-year-old to be authorised. Spacey has pleaded not guilty to a string of allegations that stretch […]

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Two Trans Soldiers to Retire With Rare Distinction

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Two transgender soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri are set to retire with a rare distinction — they transitioned fully while on active duty and will be honorably discharged with full pensions. “Open transgender service in the military is becoming more commonplace and accepted, but the number of those who are honorably discharged into full retirement and transitioned while on active duty remains low,” explains a press release from Missouri LGBTQ+ rights group PROMO. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who served under President Barack Obama, lifted the ban on open service by trans troops in 2016, but Donald Trump reinstated […]

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Affirming LGBTQ youth will save their lives

As Americans, we encounter diversity daily. While we continue to see some signs of progress, the 2021 LGBTQ Youth Mental Health Study by the Trevor Project noted that at least once in their lifetime, 75% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. No matter how much progress we make, discrimination in any form hurts and can have a grave impact on one’s mental health. As the Director of Health Care International’s (HCAI) Youth & Family program, I have the good fortune of being able to speak to teachers, parents, school administrators and kids […]

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Pentagon and Army sued over decades-old policy barring recruits with HIV 

After a successful effort earlier this year to ease longstanding restrictions on service members living with HIV, LGBTQ rights advocates are now pushing for more change. They want to end the U.S. military’s decades-old policy of barring people with HIV from enlisting. LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuitThursday on behalf of three individuals living with HIV: Isaiah Wilkins, a gay police officer in Georgia; a transgender lesbian woman who left the military in 2013 to transition and a straight woman who had dreams of becoming a parachute rigger. (The women are identified in the lawsuit with pseudonyms because they fear further […]

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NYPD is investigating a string of assaults potentially linked to deaths of 2 gay men

The New York City Police Department confirmed Monday that it is investigating a string of robberies and assaults that may be connected to the deaths of two gay men earlier this year shortly after they left gay bars in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.  In an emailed statement, Julian Phillips, a spokesperson for the NYPD’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, confirmed that the deaths of Julio Ramirez and John Umberger are being investigated among “several incidents where individuals have been victims of either robberies or assault.” No arrests have been made in Umberger’s death, which remains under NYPD investigation, according to […]

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Bipartisan senators revive effort to pass bill codifying same-sex marriage protections

A bipartisan group of senators released an updated version of a bill Monday to codify federal protections for same-sex marriages that they say they feel confident can get enough Republican support to pass in the Senate. The leader of the effort, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., fellow Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina were working on an amendment to the bill to entice more Republican votes to overcome a filibuster.  The senators said in a statement Monday that they are “confident that this amendment has helped […]

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I fled transphobic Texas politics to save my son’s life

If you’ve never had a lawmaker attempt to label you as a child abuser for providing gender-affirming care, threaten to incarcerate you and send your kids to one of Texas’ notoriously dangerous foster homes, that makes one of us. And that’s why one humid June morning, after having squeezed the last of our things into our car — a stack of comic books, a dog who hates road trips and a Nintendo Switch — we fled our Houston home seeking safety for our transgender son, Noah, in the mountains of Colorado.  As time ticked down, we lived in fear of knocks […]

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Black LGBTQ Representation Triples in Texas Legislature

LGBTQ Victory Fund candidates Christian Manuel-Hayes and Venton Jones won the elections for Texas state House Districts 22 and 100, respectively. Both Manuel-Hayes and Jones are now the first Black out LGBTQ men ever elected to the Texas state legislature. Also tonight, Jolanda Jones won reelection for Texas state House District 147. Jones made history earlier this year when she won the special election for House District 147 and became the first Black out LGBTQ person ever elected to the state legislature. A record number of LGBTQ people ran for state legislatures this year. Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement: […]

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