Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By John Mack Freeman Kate Brown became the first out LGBT governor in United State’s history when she replaced Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber after his resignation. Brown, who had previously served as Oregon Secretary of State, will ascend to the job after the resignation becomes official on February 18th. Via the Atlantic: Brown will serve […]
By John Mack Freeman A jury returned a mixed verdict in the trial over whether the effort to repeal Houston’s equal rights ordinance (HERO) were improper. A little back story: the city passed HERO last year by an 11-6 vote that included protections for people due to sexual orientation and gender identity. Although religious exemptions […]
By John Mack Freeman The state of Alabama started issuing same sex marriage licenses this week, but the process was anything but smooth. Due to conflicting instructions from the federal court judge and the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, many probate judges were unsure as to what they were legally empowered to do. […]
By John Mack Freeman A clinic in Canada has found an alternate way to accept blood donations from men who have sex with men. Currently, Canada has an MSM ban that lasts for five years from the last sexual encounter. Because this is clearly insane, the Canadian Blood Service is hosting a one-day event at […]
By John Mack Freeman In a recent study that will doubtlessly not shock any of our consistent readers, Lead researcher Nicholas Eaton, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University and colleagues at the TransYouth Project found that trans youth had a clear understanding of what gender meant and a well-established idea of how their gender fit into their […]
By John Mack Freeman The United States State Department is expected to announce the creation of an LGBT rights envoy some time during February. While the envoy’s name has yet to be released, sources inside the State Department say that it is an openly gay member of the Foreign Service who is going through the […]
By John Mack Freeman Fusion magazine’s “Massive Millennial Poll” surveyed 1,000 18-34 year olds. Via Advocate.com: 50 percent of the 1,000 peoplebetween the ages of 18 and 34 who were interviewed by telephone agreed with the statement “Gender is a spectrum, and some people fall outside conventional categories.” Before answering, interviewees were informed, “Some countries, including India, recognize […]
By John Mack Freeman Slovakia has failed to pass a referendum that would have blocked LGB marriage and adoption in that country. While over 95% of those voting supported the referendum, Slovak law requires that 50 percent of eligible voters turnout for a referendum to pass a legitimacy threshold. Since fewer than 25 percent actually […]
By John Mack Freeman During this past week’s State of the Union, President Obama included the words “lesbian,” “bisexual,” and “transgender” in the text of the speech. While LGBT issues have been spoken of in the past, this is the first time that these groups have been explicitly named. From Gay Star News: [Obama said,] […]
By John Mack Freeman The Supreme Court has decided that they’ll hear marriage equality cases this spring, and it has people across the country thinking that this issue may well be settled once and for all. But that hasn’t stopped movement in the states. Here’s some of what has gone on this week: In the […]