Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By John Mack Freeman Anti-trans bathroom bills were passed by portions of the legislature in both the state of Kentucky and Canada this week. In Kentucky, the state Senate voted 27-9 (all Democrats and three Republicans opposed) to allow a bill that would require students to use the bathroom assigned to their biological sex rather than […]
Via press release Gay Star News Ltd., an international online news service based in London, announced this month that Lord John Browne of Madingley has become a shareholder in the business, taking a 12.5 percent stake. Brown is the former CEO of BP (British Petroleum), one of the world”s largest gas and oil companies. He […]
By John Mack Freeman A new study from the Urban Institute conducted extensive interviews with 283 LGBT youth in New York City who were engaged in survival sex. Via LGBTQ Nation: In extensive interviews conducted over three years by the Urban Institute, 283 young people spoke about experiencing family rejection, establishing support networks with groups […]
By John Mack Freeman A new $400 joining fee may be responsible for a dramatic shrinking in the size of the LGBT Equality Caucus. 51 members have not renewed their membership in the Caucus, although some still list themselves as members of the Caucus on their personal websites. The mission of the Caucus is “The […]
By John Mack Freeman On February 23, 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry appointed Randy Berry as the US State Department’s first LGBT envoy. Berry had previously served as Consul General in Amsterdam with prior postings in Bangladesh, Egypt, South Africa, and Uganda. Secretary Kerry had the following to say (via PinkNews): “Randy’s a leader, […]
By John Mack Freeman A new study authored in part by the Movement Advancement Project has found that trans persons are significantly more likely to experience economic hardship over the course of their lives than are non-trans individuals. Via MAP: Paying an Unfair Price: The Financial Penalty for Being Transgender in America paints a stark […]
By John Mack Freeman The first ever top-level domain on the Internet for LGBT people officially opened this week. “.lgbt” sites are open to businesses, organizations, and individuals supportive of the LGBT community. They can be registered from a variety of domain registrars. All sites with a .lgbt address are subect to the .lgbt Acceptable […]
By John Mack Freeman When trying to affect political change, it helps if people follow the instructions. Opponents of Plano’s Equal Rights Ordinance collected well over the 3,822 required signatures needed to put the law on the ballot in November. However, officials rejected the petition on several grounds. The petition inaccurately stated that the ordinance applied […]
By John Mack Freeman HRC has created a “People’s Brief” to be submitted as an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the upcoming same sex marriage case. This brief is an opportunity for individual citizens to sign on to the argument contained within for submission to the Court. You can read the full document […]
By John Mack Freeman It’s always massively celebrated when a large urban area or an entire state passes LGBT protection laws. But, not everyone lives in large city. There are only five residents of Thurmon, West Virginia, but this week, they became the smallest town in American to pass an LGBT rights ordinance. Via West […]