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12-year-old Girl Speaks Out after Being Forced to Flee Town by Threats

Maddison Kleeman Rose chose to speak publicly (HBO/VICE News) A 12-year-old girl who is being forced to flee her hometown after transphobic knife threats has spoken out about what’s happening. Police shut down schools in Achille, Oklahoma for two days earlier this month after threats emerged to a transgender student, Maddie. Messages had come to light in a Facebook group for parents of students, where several people had vented about Maddie being allowed to use the female bathroom. Maddison Kleeman Rose (HBO/VICE News)v They referred to the 12-year-old girl as “it,” “this thing,” “half baked maggot” and “the transgender,” and threatened to […]

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15 Countries Condemn ‘Inadequate’ Russian Response to Chechnya Homophobic Purge

A protest in Berlin calling on Russian President to put an end to the persecution of gay men in Chechnya. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty) A group of countries have triggered an international action against Russia over the homophobic purge in Chechnya. Human rights monitors first reported in February 2017 that authorities in Chechnya – an autonomous region of Russia – were carrying out a homophobic purge. Gay people in the region have faced arrest, torture and execution, but the Kremlin has consistently refused to intervene, even as Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov publicly stated that homosexuals are “not people” who should be removed to “purify” […]

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Death Penalty For White Supremacist Killer Of Florida Gay Couple: “Homosexuals Are A Disease To Mankind”

The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports: Peter Avsenew, convicted of killing a Wilton Manors couple days before Christmas 2010 and stealing their car to escape to north Florida, who told a jury in January that he had no regrets and a judge in March that he had killed before and would again, has been sentenced to die. He is the first defendant in Broward to receive a death sentence since a new law was passed in 2017 requiring juries to be unanimous in finding an execution is warranted. It seemed to be the result Avsenew wanted — after his conviction last […]

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Supreme Court Rebuffs Catholic Agency Over Same-sex Foster Care

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to force the city of Philadelphia to resume the placement of children in need of foster care with a Catholic agency that refuses to accept gay couples as foster parents. In a decision that Catholic Social Services had said would force its foster care program to close, the justices refused the religious agency’s request for an injunction compelling the city to allow it to place children in foster homes while litigation over the dispute continues in lower courts. In the brief order that did not give any reasons for the decision, three conservative […]

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9-year-old Boy Commits Suicide after Coming Out to Classmates, Says Mother

Jamel Myles (Photo via Fox 32/Twitter) A 9-year-old boy from Denver, Co. was found dead after he was bullied by classmates for coming out as gay. Denver Police say the death is being investigated as a suicide. Leia Pierce found her son Jamel Myles unresponsive just four days after he told his fourth-grade classmates at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School he was gay. According to Fox 31, Jamel came out to his mother over the summer before the school year started. “And he looked so scared when he told me. He was like, ‘Mom I’m gay.’ And I thought he was playing, so I […]

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California Is The First State To Denounce ‘Corrective’ Surgery On Intersex Children

California’s legislature passed a historic resolution on Tuesday that affirms the rights of intersex people. The resolution, SCR-110, formally condemns unnecessary surgery on intersex babies that is often performed by doctors to “correct” the child’s genitals. The resolution defines intersex people as “individuals born with variations in their physical sex characteristics” and who “may present with differences in genital anatomy, internal reproductive structures, chromosomes, or hormonal variations.” The resolution was introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) and co-sponsored by social justice organizations interACT and Equality California. “Our resolution (#SCR110) urging the medical profession to delay medically unnecessary genital surgeries […]

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Candidate Releases ‘Groundbreaking’ Political Ad About his Experiences of Homophobia

Rufus Gifford A Democratic candidate has released a raw political ad opening up about his experiences of homophobia. Rufus Gifford is one of ten Democrats seeking election to the US House of Representatives to represent the solidly-Democratic Massachusetts District 3. Ahead of the party primary on September 4, Gifford has released a “groundbreaking” ad, focused on his own struggles as a gay man.While many LGBT candidates are keen to not focus too much on their own identity, Gifford puts it front and centre. In the ad, he says: “Anyone who can look in the face of a gay kid who grew […]

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Lesbian Declared Married to her Partner of 50 Years, Who Died in May

(Bonnie Foerster/Facebook) A lesbian is now officially married to her longtime partner, who died months ago. Utah Judge Patrick Corum declared 74-year-old Bonnie Foerster legally wed to her “soulmate” and common law partner Beverly Grossaint, who died in May at the age of 82, just a few weeks after the couple celebrated their five-decade anniversary together. Foerster was crying tears of joy following the rare ruling on August 21. “I’m numb from happiness. I’m married,” she said, quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m a married woman. I’ve waited 50 years,” she added.The couple met in New York in 1968, after Foerster […]

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Pope Francis: Don’t Reject Gay Children, Take Them to a Psychiatrist

Pope Francis has said that families shouldn’t shun their children for being gay, but should seek psychiatric help instead. The head of the Catholic Church made the comments while travelling back from a visit to Ireland, where LGBT+ rights had been a key dividing issue. The country’s leader Leo Varadkar called for acceptance of LGBT+ families during the visit, following reports that the World Meeting of Families attended by the Pope had blocked participation from Catholic LGBT+ groups and censored depictions of same-sex parents in events literature. Speaking to journalists on the plane back to Rome, the Pope was asked what he […]

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Why I’m Suing Grindr Over Racism

Sinakhone Keodara plans to sue Grindr over countless incidents of racism he has experienced from fellow users on the dating app. Keodara, a 45-year-old gay Asian man, told PinkNews he has been using Grindr “on and off for several years” and has grown tired of the messages he receives from app users. Keodara’s claims follow a long-held discussion around racism on Grindr, including queer pop star MNEK who recently spoke out about the app’s launch of a Kindr  version.“My experiences have been pretty harrowing,” Keodara explained, after receiving a message the previous day asking: “How hung can an Asian be?” “That […]

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