According to a report released by UCLA’s Williams Institute, nearly 50 percent of LGBT renters who are behind on rent fear being evicted from their homes within the next two months. The report’s release comes after the Supreme Court last week blocked the CDC’s federal eviction moratorium. The Supreme Court’s decision to end the federal […]
Charlotte Passes Nondiscrimination Ordinance to Protect LGBTQ Community
On Monday, Charlotte, North Carolina’s city council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance that extends nondiscrimination protections to LGBT people. The new ordinance protects several new classes from discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and passenger vehicles for hire and procurement. It prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, […]
U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Against Web Designer Seeking License to Discriminate Against LGBTQ+ Couples
On Monday, the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals maintained a lower court’s decision to reject a Colorado web designer’s request to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples. Lorie Smith, the owner of the web design business 303 Creative LLC, challenged the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by suing to request that her business be allowed to deny […]
Laurel Hubbard to Become the First Openly Transgender Olympian
Laurel Hubbard, a New Zealand weightlifter, will become the first ever openly transgender individual to compete at the Olympics. She has been selected as a member of the New Zealand women’s weightlifting team for this summer’s Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. Hubbard will compete in the 87-kilogram women’s category. She suffered a potentially career-ending arm injury […]
Supreme Court Rules to Uphold Affordable Care Act, Decides Catholic Adoption Agency has Right to Prevent LGBTQ+ Couples from Fostering Children
In a 7-2 decision Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled to leave Affordable Care Act intact, dismissing a challenge made against the ACA by several states led by Texas. The challenge claimed that the ACA’s individual mandate was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs had hoped that a ruling of the individual mandate as unconstitutional would declare every other provision of the ACA, and the entire law itself, unconstitutional as well. This is the third challenge to have been made against the ACA since the […]
Bill to Outlaw Conversion Therapy Introduced in Congress
Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) to reintroduce the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act (S.928) to ban so-called “conversion therapy” across the nation.
PayPal Cancels Plans to Expand into North Carolina Citing New Discriminatory Law
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman announced on Tuesday that the company made a “clear and unambiguous” decision to cancel plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina, stating that HB2 “violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture.”
Kentucky Clerk Defies Supreme Court, Refuses to Issue Marriage Licenses
Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis will be summoned to court this morning where a federal judge could hold her in contempt for refusing to issue a marriage licenses to gay couples.
White House Hires First Openly Transgender Official
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan has made history this morning when President Obama appointed her to serve as an official in the White House.
Queer Troop Leaders Are Now Welcome By The Boy Scouts of America
This win for LGBT rights is limited, however, as troops organized through church groups can still decide if they will allow gay leaders.
John Legend Drops Performance at Beverly Hills Hotel in Response to Brunei’s Anti-Gay, Anti-Woman Penal Code
John Legend announced that he would not be performing at the coveted L.A. Confidential party hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel in protest of the new penal code introduced by the Hotel’s owner, the Sultan of Brunei.
Marriage Equality Has Officially Come to Alabama
The Supreme Court refused to stop a federal court ruling today that requires Alabama state officials to recognize same-sex marriage rights. The state has begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Activist Monica Jones Can Now Appeal Her Conviction for “Walking While Trans”
An Arizona appeals court Monday overruled an April verdict that highlighted police profiling of trans women of color.
Protestors Demand Justice After Denver Police Fatally Shoot Queer Latina Teen
On Monday morning, a 16-year-old lesbian Latina named Jessie Hernandez was shot and killed by Denver police. Now, her friends and family are uniting with communities of color and LGBT activists to demand justice.
Mormon Church Moves To Protect Gay Rights
Leaders of the Mormon Church said it is promising to support housing and job protections for the LGBT community in exchange for legal protections for believers who object to others’ behavior.
Scripps College Will Now Officially Admit Transgender Women
The new policy will be in effect for all Fall 2016 applicants.
Activists Demonstrate Outside Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations
Workers, human rights advocates, environmental organizations, and consumer rights leaders rallied today to oppose the TPP free trade agreement, described as “a massive corporate power grab… with potentially dire consequences for the economy, environment and public health both at home and abroad.”
Sixth Circuit Ruling on Gay Marriage Bans Could Send Marriage Equality to the Supreme Court
This Sixth Circuit has changed the legal landscape, becoming the first federal Court of Appeals to uphold a ban since the US Supreme Court decided US v. Windsor.
UPDATE: Supreme Court Justice Delays Marriage Equality in Idaho
Justice Kennedy issued a one-page order requiring the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to delay their ruling striking down Idaho’s same-sex marriage ban.
Constitutional Court Invalidates Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law
Uganda’s Constitutional Court today struck down – on procedural grounds – a package of anti-gay policies signed into law this February by President Yoweri Museveni, but left room for lawmakers to attempt to pass the law, or another version of it, again.