Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By Peter Hepburn Only a year since I left the Midwest for SoCal, and yet I was not so well-prepared for real winter when I encountered it in January at ALA MidWinter. I was heartily glad that my hotel in Philadelphia was so close to the convention center that I could dash over (or to […]
Looking back across the decades, there might be good news for LGBT rights once a month or even once a year. Now so much happens in a week that there’s not one issue but several Virginia: U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen wrote a touching opinion in her ruling that struck down the state’s […]
The comic strip Dilbert by Scott Adams recently took a stand for gay rights, specifically in response to the anti-gay legislation that passed in India. On February 7 and February 8, Adams created strips that made the long running character Asok gay while commenting on the situation. In response to the all-to-expected firestorm, Adams posted a preliminary […]
Via ALA press release. CHICAGO – Karen G. Schneider, university librarian at Holy Names University, Oakland, Calif., is the 2014 recipient of the American Library Association (ALA) Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award. This award is given biennially to an individual for making positive changes in the profession of librarianship and consists of a 24K […]
Trans Woman Releases Bathroom Finder App Via Advocate.com: “One woman has taken matters into her own hands, developing an app designed to help trans individuals locate restrooms where they are least likely to experience harassment or physical assault. Using the database of now-defunct website Safe2Pee, San Francisco-area coder Teagan Widmer launched Refuge Restrooms, an open-source collection of trans-safe restrooms.” Rainbow […]
By John Mack Freeman I love the Olympics. For most of the year, I am an incredibly internationally-oriented person who believes that the interconnectedness of the world is a good thing. However, during the games, I swell with national pride, and I become Team USA all the way. My best friend Mandy and I had […]
At times, the fight for marriage equality can seem both incredibly fast and grindingly slow. After a series of victories in 2013 that culminated in two positive Supreme Court decisions, the pace of marriage equality has slowed due to the ponderous way that court cases work their way through the system. However, in an effort […]
Nel’s favorite of the week: “A new study from Indiana researchers tells us what most even minded people will already have assumed to be true: that sex and romance in gay relationships are closely linked. The research [was] published this month in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.” North Carolina trans student becomes first out Homecoming […]
Newly elected New York mayor Bill De Blasio plans to skip this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade because of its exclusions of LGBT groups. He will be the first New York mayor in 20 years to not march down Fifth Avenue in the Irish-American celebration. David N. Dinkins boycotted the parade in 1993 after sponsors […]
Last fall a Kentucky court ruled Geneva Case, 49, must testify against her partner, 37-year-old Bobbi Jo Clary, in a murder case. The lesbians were legally joined in a civil union in Vermont, but Kentucky does not recognize same-sex marriage. Last month, Clay pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison although she […]