Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
Via press release WASHINGTON – Counsel for plaintiffs from the Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee marriage lawsuits today announced that Mary L. Bonauto and Doug Hallward-Driemeier will represent the plaintiffs at the cases’ scheduled April 28 arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bonauto will present arguments for question 1: “Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a […]
By John Mack Freeman The Oakland Athletic’s have planned their first LGBT Pride Night on June 17. This led to a small firestorm among some season ticket holders who threatened to sell their tickets for that night’s game. Eireann Dolan (girlfriend of A’s pitcher Sean Doolittle) has called their bluff. In an open letter on […]
By John Mack Freeman Probably the biggest legislative news in GLBT issues this week has been the firestorm surrounding RFRAs (or state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts). These bills would ostensibly allow workers to deny service to others based on the worker’s religious beliefs. There are numerous problems with these laws: what constitutes a burden or […]
By John Mack Freeman This week, California Attorney General Kamala Harris stated that she would ask the California Supreme Court to relieve her of the duty of having to write a summary and title for a citizen-proposed initiative that would call for vigilante executions of homosexuals. Harris is in the process of beginning her campaign […]
By John Mack Freeman Russia’s bid to block same sex benefits at the United Nations failed this week. Secretary General Ban had previously extended benefits to all same sex partners that worked for the United Nations. Previously, the benefits had been at the discretion of the employing country. When Russia called for a vote of […]
By John Mack Freeman The official dictionary of Sweden has been updated to include a gender-neutral pronoun for the first time. Though the pronoun “hen” has been in use for decades, this is the first time it has been included in the language’s official dictionary. Via Pink News: The Swedish trans community began using it, […]
By John Mack Freeman Although all sorts of anti-GLBT legislation comes up every year, 2015’s special flavor so far has been the so-called “religious freedom” bills. These bills seek to give business owners and government employees the right to refuse services to GLBT people based on the service providers religious beliefs. Numerous states are pursuing […]
By John Mack Freeman This week, Governor Mike Pence (R) of Indiana signed into law a religious freedom bill. Opponents of the law claim that it will allow businesses throughout the state the ability to refuse service to GLBT people based on religious grounds. The backlash against the law has been swift and vocal. Cloud […]
By John Mack Freeman A largely ignored portion of the Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) allows for patients to address civil rights concerns related to healthcare to the Department of Health and Human Services. This week, a federal judge ruled in a case that these protections extend to trans patients, saying that patients […]
By John Mack Freeman Indiana is one vote away from approving a “religious freedom” bill that would allow businesses to refuse service to GLBT individuals. In response, a coalition of businesses has begun a grassroots campaign to show that they will not discriminate against anyone. Open For Service provides stickers and a listing for Indiana businesses […]