Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By John Mack Freeman This week, the Georgia legislature sent House Bill 757 to Governor Nathan Deal for his signature. The bill would allow any faith-based organization to deny services to any individual based on that organizations sincerely held religious beliefs. The law is modeled on the federal “First Amendment Defense Act,” and it is […]
By A. Faulkner So. I didn’t know anything about Manny Pacquiao. Before this past week the only thing I’d ever even heard was that he liked pistachios (or at least he was paid to imply he did). I can’t link you to an official YouTube video of the commercial via Wonderful Pistachios though because, mysteriously, […]
By Ashley R. Lierman Is there any trend in pop culture right now as ubiquitous, or as divisive, as the remake? Resurrecting classic properties for another grab at their revenue streams is an event so frequent it seems almost compulsive, and nerd culture seems to get hit with it particularly hard. Some people are definitely […]
By Elizabeth Gartley This winter, when I was selecting nonfiction titles to purchase for this school year, I included a few LGBTQ nonfiction titles, including Stonewall by Ann Bausum, Branded by the Pink Triangle by Ken Setterington, and Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin. When they arrived, the LGBTQ books sat alongside […]
By John Mack Freeman Charlotte, North Carolina became one of the newest cities to have LGBT protections. Voting 7-4, the measure passed after multiple hours of debate with 140 people speaking both in favor and against the measure. Via The Charlotte Observer: The changes mean businesses in Charlotte can’t discriminate against gay, lesbian or transgender customers, […]
By John Mack Freeman The Italian Senate voted this week to approve civil unions in that country. However, the victory is not without its drawbacks. The bill does not allow for join adoption of children that are biologically related to one of the parents. This provision was removed from the bill because it proved to […]
By John Mack Freeman Two weeks ago, we reported that the president of Portugal had vetoed a bill in that country that would have allowed same-sex couples to adopt children. We are happy to report that the legislature has overruled that veto by a vote of 137 of 230 seats. The overturn was supported by the […]
By John Mack Freeman The government in Indonesia has begun to urge Facebook and Whatsapp to remove same-sex-themed emojis that the social media companies have released in recent years. Via PinkNews: Pro-government newspaper Republika, reports that Line removed the emojis following complaints from users. The government’s information ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu said: “No social media […]
By John Mack Freeman The government of Malawi is reliant on western governments and NGOs for aid money, and as such, agreed in 2012 to stop arresting and prosecuting people who have participated in same-sex activities. However, a December 2015 arrest of two men then led to Malawi’s Justice Minister to proclaim a moratorium and all […]
By John Mack Freeman The Governor of Puerto Rico has nominated Associate Justice Maite Oronoz Rodríguez to become the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. Rodriguez has been serving as an associate justice since 2014. If she were to be approved by the Puerto Rico Senate, she would be the first out […]