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Costume Designer Bob Mackie Dies At Age 87 

People Magazine reports: Bob Mackie has died at the age of 87. In a post shared on Mackie’s Instagram page on Sept. 14, his team wrote, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today. He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do. His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.” Mackie was perhaps Hollywood’s most famous costume designer, best known for his collaborations with Cher […]

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Justice Department sues Kansas schools for protecting trans students from being outed

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The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against a Kansas school district, accusing officials of helping students socially transition at school without informing their parents. The Trump administration’s suit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, the fifth-largest school district in the state, marks the first such legal action in the department’s history. “Parental rights are paramount in the operation of America’s public schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools does not know children better than their own parents,” said Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with […]

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Switzerland moves towards national conversion therapy ban

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Switzerland has moved closer to a nationwide ban on so-called conversion therapy after the federal government said it supports national legislation to outlaw the widely discredited practice. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation said the government officially set out its position in a report published on Wednesday. Protections have developed unevenly across the country so far. Neuchâtel became the first Swiss canton to ban conversion therapy in 2023, and Valais and Vaud have also prohibited the practice in their cantons. Bern and Geneva are among the other cantons where lawmakers have considered similar prohibitions. Patchwork canton bans Neuchâtel’s 2023 law marked the first time […]

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Alabama’s new library rules target every book about transgender people

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The Alabama Public Library Service board recently adopted strict guidelines requiring public libraries to limit young people’s access to books containing material related to gender identity or transgender people. Under the amended administrative code, books that discuss gender-transition procedures or “gender ideology,” or that “promote” the existence of more than two biological genders, must be removed from youth sections and relocated to sections for adults. The push for the policy change was spearheaded by board Chair John Wahl, the current Republican nominee for state lieutenant governor, and board member Amy Minton. The effort intensified last November, when Minton announced the agency was seeking […]

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Two men charged with brutal assault of trans woman face up to 20 years in prison

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Two men are facing multiple felony charges after allegedly attacking a trans woman at a University of Wisconsin – Madison campus pier in what prosecutors describe as a violent attempted sexual assault. Yorfred Gutierrez, 31, and Arturo Santos Albujas, 27, were arrested at the scene and are each charged with attempted second-degree sexual assault and battery, as well as strangulation, suffocation and false imprisonment as a party to a crime. According to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County Circuit Court on Tuesday (1 September), the woman met the men on Madison’s State Street in the early hours of Saturday morning (29 […]

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When a pastor preaches cruelty, why does the congregation listen?

Halfway through Netflix’s jarring docuseries Death of the Pastor’s Wife, I found myself rewinding a clip to make sure I had heard it correctly. It was that unhinged. There was John-Paul “JP” Miller, pastor of Solid Rock Church, telling his congregation that a wife who refuses her husband sex is inviting the devil into her marriage. He claimed that withholding intimacy was comparable to rape, sex trafficking, or homosexuality. He said it as doctrine, as some sort of Bible-based fact, and as justification for his own abhorrent behavior. What stunned me was that members of his congregation sat in the pews and […]

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Texas A&M Axes LGBTQ, Gender, And Climate Courses

The Texas Tribune reports: Students at 11 Texas A&M University System schools will see fewer classes related to LGBTQ literature, climate change and women writers meet graduation requirements under a proposal to remove more than 200 classes from general-education course lists. System regents voted Thursday to scale back the classes that qualify after a review prompted by a new state law that requires public university boards to examine what classes undergraduates must take regardless of their majors. Regents must ensure those courses “are foundational and fundamental” for a college education and that they prepare students for civic life and the workforce, according […]

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Why affirming faith communities belong in the fight to end HIV

Strategy work usually gets described in terms of what an organization needs to build: new systems, new partnerships, new infrastructure. But HIV strategy should begin with another question: What networks of relationships and influence already exist, and why have we not adequately invested in them as pathways to prevention and care? August 30 is National Faith HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. The observance points to an important strategic opportunity. Faith and spiritual communities are among the few institutions in this country that hold relationships that span generations. Their leaders are often present for some of the most intimate moments in people’s […]

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Utah detectives say accused stalker told victim he ‘couldn’t wait to kill a gay person’

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A Provo, Utah, man accused of stalking a former high school classmate and threatening to kill him and his family now faces charges carrying hate crimeenhancements after allegedly saying he “couldn’t wait to kill a gay person.” Damyen Vainuku, 18, was charged Thursday in Utah’s 3rd District Court with stalking, a second-degree felony; six counts of being a restricted person in possession of a weapon, a third-degree felony; and one count each of making a threat of violence and harassment, both class A misdemeanors, according to KSL Media. The stalking, threat and harassment charges carry “targeting” enhancements — Utah’s equivalent of a hate […]

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Hackers Breach Dallas LGBTQ Resource Center

The Dallas Morning News reports: The Resource Center of Dallas, one of the largest LGBTQ organizations in Texas, was hit by a data breach earlier this year. The breach was reported to the Texas Attorney General’s Office in July, with that filing indicating that the breach impacted more than 9,000 people, although other information indicates the scope may have been somewhat wider. The breach potentially exposed people’s names, Social Security and government ID numbers, as well as financial and medical information, including health insurance information. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the breach at The Resource Center of Dallas. The […]

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