Category: Gay/Lesbian

Americans oppose bathroom laws limiting transgender rights: poll

The majority of respondents to a new U.S. poll opposed laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identities and indicated growing acceptance for gay rights, a nonpartisan research group said on Friday. Fifty-three percent of the Americans surveyed oppose laws requiring transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth, according to the national poll by the Public Religion Research Institute.

Texas court hears case that could dent gay marriage right

The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a Houston case that top Republicans hope will provide an opening to chip away at the landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide. A coalition of religious and social conservatives sued America’s fourth-largest city in 2013, challenging its decision to offer same-sex spousal benefits to municipal employees.

The Latest: Trump suggests leaving many fed jobs unfilled

A presidential address to Congress is always part policy speech, part political thea… With his first address to Congress, President Donald Trump gets an opportunity to refocus his young administration on the economic issues that helped him get elected. With his first address to Congress, President Donald Trump gets an opportunity to refocus his young administration on the economic issues that helped him get elected.

South Korean prosecutors indict Samsung’s de facto chief

With his first address to Congress, President Donald Trump gets an opportunity to refocus his young administration on the economic issues that helped him get elected. With his first address to Congress, President Donald Trump gets an opportunity to refocus his young administration on the economic issues that helped him get elected.

1 dead, 5 injured after plane hits houses in California

An activist who will deliver a Democratic response in Spanish to President Donald Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday plans to address his administration’s crackdown on undocumented… An activist who will deliver a Democratic response in Spanish to President Donald Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday plans to address his administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants and the need for health care. Money is being raised to repair and restore more than 100 headstones that were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.

1967, a metaphor for military slaughter

THE international human rights outfit, Amnesty International, AI, has engaged the Nigerian military authorities in a war of wits, accusations and counter-accusations since our armed forces embraced a full-scale campaign to overcome the Boko Haram Islamist threat in Northern Nigeria. The first sign of tension emerged shortly after former President Goodluck Jonathan, in January 2014, signed the bill outlawing homosexuality in Nigeria.

Correction: Trump-Manufacturing story

From left are, Archer Daniels Midland CEO Juan Luciano, White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, Tr… . President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with manufacturing executives at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017.

Trump Scraps Protections for Trans Students

President Trump on Wednesday rescinded protections for transgender students that had allowed them to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, overruling his own education secretary and placing his administration firmly in the middle of the culture wars that many Republicans have tried to leave behind.

Bathroom Bills Are Upending the Meetings Industry Across the U.S.

Visit Dallas President and CEO Phillip Jones speaks at a press conference organized by the Texas Welcomes All coalition, which was mobilized to oppose the state’s pending bathroom bill. Besides stripping away the fundamental rights of an already marginalized group, the stack of “Bathroom Bills” piling up in state legislatures around the country will only drive away meetings and conventions, and the valuable economic income they bring with them.

CPAC disinvites Milo Yiannopoulos over unearthed pedophilia video

Although anti-transgender and Islamophobic views were not a problem for organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference, an unearthed video in which Milo Yiannopoulos suggests approval for sex with underage boys is apparently a bridge too far. Matt Schlapp, chair of the American Conservative Union, announced Monday in a statement Yiannopoulos would be disinvited from the annual conservative confab over the video amid outcry from both conservatives and progressives over giving him a prominent role as a keynote speaker.

Anti-gay Jeff Sessions confirmed as Trump’s attorney general

Despite activists and groups such as the Human Rights Campaign lambasting him for his record on equal rights, the Alabama senator has officially been elected to the prestigious position with a vote of 52 in favour to 47 against. Sessions’ record on LGBT+ rights is abysmal – he voted against marriage equality, is in favour of allowing discrimination in the name of religion, and called discriminatory measure Don’t Ask Don’t Tell “pretty effective”.

The Latest: Visa holders hurry to board US-bound flights

The Latest on the reaction to a court order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries : Visa holders from seven majority-Muslim countries affected by President Donald Trump’s travel ban are hurrying to board U.S.-bound flights following a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the ban. Those who could travel immediately were being urged to do so Saturday because of uncertainty over whether the Justice Department would be granted an emergency freeze of the order issued Friday.

Senate Pulls 6:30 am Vote to Rebuke Dems and Advance Betsy DeVos

Educations Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos will be receiving a full Senate vote and is likely to be confirmed after Republicans advanced her nomination in a 6:30 am vote on Friday. Senators convened at the unusual, early hour – 6:30 a.m. ET – because of Democratic stalling tactics that reflect their unhappiness with Trump’s cabinet picks and the overall confirmation process.

LGBT advocates scared, despite White House words on equality

“Advocates said on Tuesday they were bracing for moves by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, despite a White House statement vowing to uphold protection for LGBT people in the workplace. Trump will continue to enforce a 2014 executive order by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, barring discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people working for federal contractors, the White House said.

LGBT advocates scared, despite White House words on equality

“Advocates said on Tuesday they were bracing for moves by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, despite a White House statement vowing to uphold protection for LGBT people in the workplace. Trump will continue to enforce a 2014 executive order by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, barring discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people working for federal contractors, the White House said.

LGBT advocates scared, despite White House words on equality

“Advocates said on Tuesday they were bracing for moves by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, despite a White House statement vowing to uphold protection for LGBT people in the workplace. Trump will continue to enforce a 2014 executive order by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, barring discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people working for federal contractors, the White House said.

Five Ways The Media has Broken the Public Trust in Four Days

The first two weeks of the Trump administration have been chaotic at best, the last four days have been a whirlwind of reports, retractions and corrections. But why is that? So much confusion in the news, the fog of an “ideological” war? I found a few things that have happened just since Donald Trump signed the highly publicized immigration executive order that make it easy to see why the public has zero confidence in the press.

Our Opinion: Different paths to poor choices

Federal cabinet positions are really no place for amateurs and/or those whose special interests may be counter to the best interests of the country at large. The Donald Trump cabinet contains examples of both, and the effort of friendly Republican congressmen to hasten them through hearings last week couldn’t disguise this.

‘I believe in the American people’: Obama upbeat in last news conference

President Obama championed America’s diversity in an upbeat final news conference Wednesday, challenging Americans to do more to ensure civil rights for everyone and insisting that future presidents will reflect the mixed-up “stew” of Americans of all faiths and backgrounds. ‘I believe in the American people’: Obama upbeat in last news conference President Obama championed America’s diversity in an upbeat final news conference Wednesday, challenging Americans to do more to ensure civil rights for everyone and insisting that future presidents will reflect the mixed-up “stew” of Americans of all faiths and backgrounds.

Jennifer Holliday backs out of Trump inauguration gig

Broadway star Jennifer Holliday has backed out as a performer at next week’s presidential inaugural, saying she did not realize that her participation would be interpreted as a statement of support for President-elect Donald Trump. Holliday, best known for her Tony-winning role in Broadway’s “Dreamgirls,” faced pressure from her gay, lesbian and black fans when it was announced she would sing at a Thursday concert at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial.

First on CNN: Matthew Shepard’s mother blasts Trump AG pick…

The mother of Matthew Shepard is urging senators to oppose Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination to become President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, citing his opposition to hate crimes legislation. In a report issued by the Human Rights Campaign, Judy Shepard – whose son Matthew was beaten and left to die in Wyoming in 1998 in a crime motivated by anti-gay sentiment – blasted Sessions for opposing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2009.

LGBT activists view Obama as staunch champion of their cause

It was a new look for the White House, bathed in rainbow colors to celebrate the Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage nationwide. “To see people gathered in the evening outside on a beautiful summer night, and to feel whole and to feel accepted, and to feel that they had a right to love – that was pretty cool,” he said a few days later.

Final farewell to two Hollywood icons: Debbie Reynolds and daughter …

Now Obama’s building a wall! Workers put the finishing touches to a brick barrier around $5million DC mansion where Barack, Michelle and Sasha will live after leaving the White House Liberal heckler who accosted Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight hides his face from a reporter at his Brooklyn home as he’s seen for the first time since he hurled abuse at her Scientology lawyer goes on national TV to slam Leah Remini for show that led to death threats against their leader David Miscavige More Hillary Clinton emails surface – and show how anti-gay Sharia law ruler The Sultan of Brunei treated Bill ‘like part of his family’ Russian election-year cyber attacks fall-out is a ‘witch hunt’ orchestrated by Democrats, says Trump as he asks Congress to investigate leak of top-secret hacking intelligence report EXCLUSIVE: Angelina Jolie accuses Brad Pitt of ‘publicly impugning’ her character in new … (more)

Sanderson Farms says ‘HB 1523 could inflict a staggering amount of damage’ on economy

Sanderson Farms, Inc. the second largest industrial manufacturing company in Mississippi and a Fortune 1000 company, publicly stated it is against Mississippi’s Religious Liberty Accommodations Act or House Bill 1523 . Sanderson Farms, which is headquartered in Laurel, is one of 11 prominent Mississippi businesses and individuals included in a brief filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans arguing “HB 1523 not only demeans and discriminates against” Mississippi’s gay, lesbian and transgender population, but “stigmatizes the entire state and will cause lasting harm to Mississippi’s economy – driving down the state’s GDP, deterring business development and expansion, and costing the state jobs.”

Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore gets Bill of Rights award

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who is appealing his suspension for his conviction on judicial ethics charges related to his stance against gay marriage, was recently awarded the 2016 Bill of Rights Award by the Bill of Rights Bicentennial Committee of Concordville, Pennsylvania. The committee announced the award on Dec. 15, which was the 225th anniversary of the adoption of the Bill of Rights, according to a press release Wednesday from Liberty Counsel, the legal group representing Moore.

Judge Halts Enforcement of Federal Protections for Transgender Healthcare Services

The Human Rights Campaign , the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, responded to a federal judge’s decision yesterday to issue an injunction blocking enforcement of federal protections set to go into effect today barring discrimination in healthcare services based on an individual’s gender identity, as well as reproductive health services.

Cherokee Nation’s gay-marriage law

The Cherokee Nation, one of the largest registered Native American tribes in the U.S., has officially decided to recognize same-sex marriage. The tribe, as a separate sovereign, isn’t bound by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 gay-marriage decision Obergefell v.