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Gay Rwandan man who found safety in the UK warns LGBTQ+ asylum seekers will be ‘seen as criminals’

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Growing up gay in Rwanda was like “living in prison” for Innocent. As a child, he was singled out by children and adults alike because he was seen as “feminine”. Teachers who should have tried to put a stop to homophobic bullying instead encouraged it, saying Rwandan culture didn’t accept queer people. Innocent fled Rwanda and arrived in the UK as a refugee. He’s built a new life for himself as an openly gay man. For the first time, he feels free. That’s why he was so shaken when he heard that the UK government is planning to deporting asylum […]

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The man who won LGBTQ job protections nationwide settles his case with former employer

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Gerald Bostock – the namesake for the 2020 historic Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County that made anti-LGBTQ discrimination illegal in the workplace – has finally settled his own discrimination lawsuit. Bostock spent over ten years working for Clayton County, Georgia as an advocate for victims of child abuse and neglect. He was abruptly fired in 2013, six months after he joined a gay softball league and subsequently endured homophobic comments from colleagues. When he was let go, his employer cited “conduct unbecoming a county employee” as the reason. Bostock believes his termination was directly related to his sexual orientation. In conjunction with two others, […]

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Biden administration expands veteran survivor benefits for same-sex spouses

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A major policy change from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) allows certain same-sex spouses of veterans to qualify for survivor benefits. The VA requires couples to be married for one year for surviving spouses to qualify for survivor benefits and eight years for a higher rate of benefits. Prior to the policy change, which was announced last week, many surviving spouses of LGBTQ veterans did not meet those requirements due to bans on same-sex marriages prior to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. According to the VA, “This wrongly […]

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Rent control is quickly becoming an election issue for LGBTQ voters in urban areas

In three weeks, voters across the country will cast their ballots in congressional, mayoral, and local elections. For many candidates, housing issues form a crux of their campaign platforms, tapping into their constituents’ frustrations from lack of affordable housing and skyrocketing rents.  According to a 2020 report conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, every $100 increase in median rent is associated with a 9% increase in the estimated homelessness rate. This situation disproportionately affects the LGBTQ community, in which 17% of queer adults have experienced lifetime homelessness, more than twice what was found in a general population study.  ADVERTISING […]

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A high school artist was chosen to paint a mural. Then came the outrage

A mural painted by a high school student came under fire when parents alleged it was promoting LGBTQ imagery and witchcraft. Earlier this year, a Grant, Michigan, high school sophomore won a contest “to brighten up” the middle school health center, according to a statement from Grant Public Schools (GPS). GPS says the student received approval to paint images of “smiling children” and as well as the message “Stay Healthy.” In the painting, there are three children. A boy is seen in a light blue, pink and white T-shirt, the colors of the transgender Pride flag. A girl wears pink, […]

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Deep Partisan Divide Over LGBTQ+ Content in Schools: Study

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There are “clearly partisan” divides over the inclusion of content addressing LGBTQ+ issues, race, and other supposedly controversial subjects in schools, says a new study from the University of Southern California. “While Republican state leaders are backing public schools away from directly addressing race, gender, and sexual identity — as well as their historical injustices — in the U.S., Democratic state leaders are pushing in the opposite direction, mandating curricula and coursework discussing America’s racist origins and legacies and highlighting the contributions throughout history of women and people of color,” says the study, titled “A House Divided? What Americans Really Think About […]

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New York governor signs bill expanding assistance for LGBTQ seniors

Access to physical and mental health care, free or discounted meal deliveries, caregivers and other forms of support are now easier for LGBTQ seniors in New York state to get.  Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law this week making New York the latest state to expand the accessibility of services to LGBTQ people ages 60 and over, who are disproportionately affected by poverty and isolation.  The legislation requires the state’s Office for the Aging to consider gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and HIV status when it calculates which seniors need the most help. It now considers other noneconomic factors […]

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The U.S. has never had a lesbian governor. These two women could change that.

Gubernatorial candidates Maura Healey and Tina Kotek are no strangers to political firsts. In 2009, Healey, who is now the Massachusetts attorney general, led the nation’s first successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages. And in 2014 she broke barriers again, becoming the nation’s first out lesbian elected state attorney general. Nearly 3,000 miles west, Kotek became the country’s first out lesbian speaker of a state House of Representatives in 2013. She made history again by becoming Oregon’s longest-serving House speaker, before stepping down in January to run for […]

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Grindr Faces Boycott After Gay CEO’s Right-Wing Tweets Are Revealed

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The right-wing political views of the new head of Grindr are causing some users to delete the popular gay dating and hookup app. The tag #DeleteGrindr is trending after news incoming CEO George Arison, 44, previously tweeted he was a conservative who supported some of the positions of then-President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Arison, who is gay, starts his new job October 19. “FYI I am a conservative & agree with some Trump policies,” Arison wrote in a since-deleted tweet on February 28, 2020. “Should totally run for President,” he wrote of Youngkin in […]

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School tried to cancel LGBTQ musical ‘The Prom’ adaptation over ‘inappropriate’ content

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A New Jersey high school tried to cancel an adaptation of the LGBTQ+ musical The Prom due to “community concern” over its themes. Officials at Cedar Grove High School in Essex County, New Jersey planned to cancel a student production of The Prom – which sees a lesbian student try to bring her same-sex date to a school prom – but were forced to backtrack after opposition from the community. The district’s superintendent Anthony Grosso told those concerned in a Friday (14 October) statement that the play would not be cancelled, but that students would perform a “High School Edition” of the play. “After further inquiry with the […]

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