Guam attorney general orders same sex marriages in territory

By John Mack Freeman Guam Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson ordered clerks in that territory to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. This is the first United States territory to recognize and issue same sex marriage licenses. The order followed the territory being sued by a lesbian couple after their marriage license application was denied. […]

Alaska Airlines unveils LGBT travel section of website

By John Mack Freeman (thanks to Nel for the tip!) Alaska Airlines has unveiled a new addition to their website focused on LGBT travel. The first push of the new initiative is to offer discounted airfare to cities during that cities Pride celebrations (and yes, San Francisco is on the list). Via Gay Star News: […]

International LGBT News: El Salavdor, Malawi, Egypt, Chile

By John Mack Freeman In El Salvador this week, a constitutional referendum that would ban same sex marriage got preliminary approval from the legislature with 47 of 84 members backing the proposal. According to El Salvadoran law, the bill must receive 2/3 approval, or 56 of the current members. In Malawi, the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Law went into […]

Mortal Kombat X features series first gay character

By John Mack Freeman Mortal Kombat X introduces the character of Kung Jin, a former thief and now Shaolin monk and member of the Special Forces Unit. Via PinkNews: Through a series of flashbacks, gamers will get to see new character Kung Jin explore his  sexuality as he fights with several others. When fan favourite character Raiden tells […]

GLAAD releases overview of LGBT representation in major studio releases

By John Mack Freeman GLAAD released their 2015 Studio Responsibility Index this week. The index tracks LGBT representation in major studio films in wide release from year to year. Some of their findings included: 17.5% of analyzed films had LGBT representation of some kind, slightly up from 2014. Female-identified LGBT people made up 32% of […]

Houston judge rejects challenge to equal rights law

By John Mack Freeman A judge ruled this past Friday that opponents to Houston’s equal rights ordinance (referred to as HERO) did not have a sufficient number of signatures to place the issue on the ballot this November. The focus of the trial was on whether the city had properly invalidated pages of petitions that […]

GLBT rights protections fail in Arkansas, Missouri; succeed in North Dakota

By John Mack Freeman The city council of Jonesboro, Arkansas rejected a proposed ordinance that would have protected city workers from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. In more bad news, the city of Springfield, Missouri had its LGBT rights ordinance repealed after a 51-49 vote. In more positive news, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issued […]

White House supports bans on “ex-gay” therapies

By John Mack Freeman In response to a petition on the We the People website, senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett responded this week, saying in part: When assessing the validity of conversion therapy, or other practices that seek to change an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation, it is as imperative to seek guidance […]

Nicaragua bans same sex marriage, adoption

By John Mack Freeman In one of the largest setbacks for GLBT rights in Latin America in recent months, Nicaragua has banned same sex marriages and adoption of minors by same sex couples or single gay or lesbian people. Via Gay Star News: The Family Code establishes that marriage is defined as ‘between a man […]

Kyrgyz LGBT center victim of arson attack

By John Mack Freeman The headquarters of LGBT group Labrys was attacked with explosives in Kyrgyzstan on April 10, 2015. The attack comes amid a climate that is rapidly becoming more hostile towards LGBT people. Kyrgyzstan is considering a “gay propaganda” law similar to the one on the books in Russia. The attacked organization has […]