LGBT+ News and Discussions

[Ozzie guy]

https://twitter.com/i/events/1394955529408057348

[Time_Traveller]

Truss ‘increasingly sidelined’ LGBT+ advisory panel before scrapping it

21 May 2021

Former members of the government’s disbanded LGBT+ advisory panel have told MPs of their disappointment at the attitudes and public statements of equalities secretary Liz Truss and minister Kemi Badenoch since they took up their posts.

Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee heard on Wednesday that things “went downhill tremendously” from September 2019, when Truss replaced Amber Rudd as equalities secretary.

MPs heard plaudits for officials in the Government Equalities Office. But they were also told that the LGBT team at the GEO was “greatly diminished” and that the budget it was originally allocated had “disappeared”.

Panel member Jayne Ozanne resigned from her role in March in protest at what she described as the “hostile environment” being created for the LGBT+ community by the government. She said Truss and Badenoch had “become known as the ministers for inequality”. Truss disbanded the panel last month after two further resignations.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/ ... rapping-it

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

DeSantis signs transgender sports ban on first day of LGBTQ Pride Month
By Steven Lemongello
Orlando Sentinel |
Jun 01, 2021 at 2:36 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a ban on transgender girls from competing in girls’ and women’s sports at an event at a Christian school on the first day of Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ community.

“We believe in the state of Florida protecting the fairness and integrity of women’s athletics,” said DeSantis, who was on stage Tuesday with several teenage girl athletes at the Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville. “... I can tell you that in Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports and boys are going to play boys’ sports.”

Advocates say the law prevents an unfair advantage in competitions, but critics slam it as being discriminatory and unnecessary.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politic ... story.html

[Ozzie guy]

I don't like that a large element of pride month seems to be companies that don't care about LGBT people trying to make a quick buck by pandering to LGBT people in a fake and weird way.

[Ozzie guy]

9 in 10 Australian LGBTQ+ students say they hear homophobic language at school, and 1 in 3 hear it almost every day.

https://theconversation.com/9-in-10-lgb ... day-160356

[Time_Traveller]

Introducing ‘their worship’, the world’s first non-binary mayor

Sun 13 Jun 2021

When Owen Hurcum, a part-time archaeology master’s student at Bangor University, climbed to the stage to accept their position as the newly appointed mayor of Bangor, they felt “hugely humbled” to represent their community.

What is even more unique about Hurcum, 23, is who they are: non-binary, queer and agender. They made history in this year’s local and mayoral election by becoming the first openly non-binary mayor of any city in the world.

“It wasn’t as much a shock or surprise to become mayor of Bangor,” explains Hurcum, “but it was when they asked me to put my name forward for deputy mayor back in 2019. I wasn’t expecting that. I was very honoured that they asked me to put my candidacy forward. They didn’t put anyone up against me, so I got appointed unopposed.”
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Hurcum is originally from Harrow in London and moved to Bangor five years ago, but said they “didn’t feel safe” growing up in London. “I could never be myself in London, I knew I was LGBT when I was about 12. And I desperately hid it from everyone, like my family, and my friends, and the community. I didn’t feel safe, or feel comfortable being ‘out’ in London. It was only when I came to Bangor that I became comfortable in being out.

“Growing up, there was little or no representation of non-binary people. I knew I wasn’t transgender in terms of being a woman – I thought I was just super queer.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... nary-mayor

[Time_Traveller]

Hungary Lawmakers Pass Law Barring LGBT Content For Minors

June 15, 2021

BUDAPEST — Lawmakers in Hungary passed legislation Tuesday that prohibits sharing with minors any content that portrays being gay or transgender, something supporters said would help fight pedophilia but which human rights groups denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination.

The conservative ruling party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban introduced the legislation, which is the latest effort to curtail the rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in the central European nation.

Hungary's National Assembly passed the bill on a 157-1 vote. The ruling Fidesz party has a parliamentary majority, and lawmakers from the right-wing Jobbik party also endorsed the measure. One independent lawmaker voted against it.

All other opposition parties boycotted the voting session in protest. Human rights groups had denounced the measure strongly, seeing it as a tool that could be used to stigmatize and harass residents because of their sexual orientations and gender identities.

Some human rights officials have compared it to the so-called gay "propaganda" law passed by Russia in 2013 which human rights officials say has become a tool to harass sexual minorities.

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/15/10066620 ... for-minors

[weatheriscool]

Religious freedom vs. LGBTQ rights: Supreme Court sides with Catholic foster care agency
Source: USA Today

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled that a Catholic foster care agency in Philadelphia may turn away gay and lesbian couples as clients, a major victory for conservatives with the potential to shift the balance between LGBTQ rights and the First Amendment's protection of religious exercise.

In one of the most significant cases before a Supreme Court that has shifted to the right in recent years, the justices handed down the most high profile defeat to LGBTQ rights advocates since a 2018 decision absolved a Colorado baker of discrimination for refusing to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

The catholic agency "seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a unanimous court. "The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment."

Catholic Social Services said its religious views keep it from screening same-sex couples as foster parents. The agency, with a long history of placing foster children, said it shouldn’t be blocked from its work because of those views. Philadelphia countered that all foster care agencies are required to not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatod ... 4155263001

Everyone should have rights so I agree with the ruling.

[weatheriscool]

Baker fined for refusing to make transgender transition cake
Source: CBS News/AP


JUNE 17, 2021 / 7:38 AM / AP

Denver — A Colorado baker who won a partial victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 for refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple violated the state's anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a birthday cake for a transgender woman, a state judge has ruled.

In Tuesday's ruling, Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones said Autumn Scardina was denied a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate her gender transition on her birthday because of her transgender status in violation of the law. While Jack Phillips said he could not make the cake because of its message, Jones said the case was about a refusal to sell a product, not compelled speech.

He pointed out that Phillips testified during a trial in March that he did not think someone could change their gender and he would not celebrate "somebody who thinks that they can."

"The anti-discrimination laws are intended to ensure that members of our society who have historically been treated unfairly, who have been deprived of even the every-day right to access businesses to buy products, are no longer treated as 'others,' " Jones wrote.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-b ... tion-cake/

A think everyone should have a right to do what they believe is right. To force people to do otherwise is fascism.

[weatheriscool]

Laurel Hubbard: First transgender athlete to compete at Olympics
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57549653

image captionCritics say Hubbard has an unfair advantage, but others have argued for more inclusion at the Games

New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard has become the first ever transgender athlete picked to compete at an Olympics, in a controversial decision.

Officials have selected her for the women's weightlifting team for Tokyo 2020, after qualifying requirements were recently modified.

She had competed in men's events before coming out as transgender in 2013.

Critics say Hubbard has an unfair advantage, but others have argued for more inclusion at the Games.

[weatheriscool]

Biden's Veterans Affairs secretary tells Pride event the government will pay for free gender reassignment surgery for up to 4,000 transgender vets

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... rgery.html

Transgender veterans will be offered gender confirmation surgery paid for by the US Department of Veterans' Affairs, its secretary announced Saturday.

Denis McDonough told an event in Orlando to celebrate Pride Month that the move was 'the right thing to do'.

He spoke a week after the fifth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in the Florida city, which saw 49 people killed at the gay bar.

McDonough said the new policy was part of an effort to overcome a 'dark history' of discrimination against LGBTQ service members.

[caltrek]

Biden Appoints Jessica Stern as Special Envoy for LGBTQ Rights
by Oriana Gonzales
June 25, 2021

https://www.axios.com/biden-special-env ... 73448.html

Introdcution:

(Axios) President Biden announced on Friday that he would appoint Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International, as U.S. special envoy for LGBTQ rights at the State Department.

Why it matters: Stern currently serves as head of an organization that specializes on addressing human rights violations against the LGBTQ community. As U.S. envoy, she will focus on promoting and protecting the rights of LGBTQ people around the world.

Stern is the second person to be named to the role. The first, Randy Berry, served from 2015 until 2017, after which the position was left vacant by former President Trump, CNN reports.

The big picture: This is the Biden administration's latest effort to address LGBTQ rights, and comes in the final days of Pride Month.

Biden became the first president to issue a proclamation to formally celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility, and also appointed Pete Buttigieg as Transportation secretary, the first openly-gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet position.

[weatheriscool]

Tennessee sued over new transgender bathroom sign law
Source: Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging Tennessee’s first-of-its-kind law that requires businesses and government facilities to post signs if they let transgender people use multiperson public bathrooms of their choice, seeking to block the requirement from taking effect on July 1.
In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo, Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, speaks on his bill that would impose new restrictions on groups that hold voter registration drives during a House session in Nashville, Tenn. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Friday, June 25, 2021, challenging Tennessee’s first-of-its-kind law that requires businesses and government facilities to post signs if they let transgender people use multiperson public bathrooms or similar facilities of their choice. Rudd, says the law is not discriminatory and doesn’t limit businesses on which facilities they can let people use. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

The ACLU and its Tennessee chapter brought the lawsuit in Nashville on behalf of Bob Bernstein, owner of Fido restaurant in Nashville; and Kye Sayers, owner of the Sanctuary Performing Arts venue in Chattanooga, which was founded by members of the transgender community; and their corresponding businesses. It names the state fire marshal, state codes enforcement director and two district attorneys as defendants.

With the threat of misdemeanor penalties, the law requires that the following sign be posted in bold, uppercase letters outside public multiperson bathrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms wherever transgender people are not prevented from using the facilities of their choice: “This facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex, regardless of the designation on the restroom.” It’s one of five new Tennessee laws this year that have drawn backlash from LGBTQ advocates.

The lawsuit argues that the sign requirement infringes on the business owners' First Amendment rights by requiring them to “communicate a misleading and controversial government-mandated message that they would not otherwise display.” The lawsuit says the phrase “either biological sex" is ”offensive to transgender and intersex people because it asserts that transgender people are not the sex they know themselves to be and ignores the existence of intersex people."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tenne ... ar-AALs8ih

[caltrek]

Edit: I was in such a rush to post this that I didn't realize that WeatherisCool had already posted an article on this story. I will let this article stand as it is from a different news source, but be warned that it duplicates much of what was reported in the above story.

ACLU Challenges Tennessee Transgender Bathroom Sign Law
by Daniel Jackson
June 25, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/aclu-cha ... -sign-law/

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — A restaurant and a performing arts center backed by the ACLU are challenging the constitutionality of a new Tennessee law mandating businesses post signs notifying patrons if they allow transgender people to use the bathroom facilities that correspond with their gender identity.

Set to take effect July 1, the law says failure to post the signs is a Class B misdemeanor breaching the state’s building codes. Penalties for violating the law could include a $500 fine or up to six months in prison.

But in a lawsuit filed Friday in Nashville federal court, the businesses say “government-mandated warning notice” violates their First Amendment free speech rights.

“Plaintiffs do not want to display this notice. They do not agree with this characterization of their policies, and they do not want to convey the Tennessee General Assembly’s controversial and stigmatizing message to customers, clients, and staff,” the 19-page complaint states.

The law says if a Tennessee business allows to transgender individuals use the public restrooms that correspond with their gender identity, then it must post a sign in boldface, block letters: “THIS FACILITY MAINTAINS A POLICY OF ALLOWING THE USE OF RESTROOMS BY EITHER BIOLOGICAL SEX, REGARDLESS OF THE DESIGNATION ON THE RESTROOM.”

[Time_Traveller]

Argentina’s Senate approves transgender job quota law

Yesterday 16:11

In a major breakthrough for LGBTQ rights, Argentina’s Senate has approved sweeping legislation that mandates that one percent of all public sector jobs should be reserved transgender individuals.

LGBT+ activists hailed the trans quota law’s passage last Thursday, with many saying that it would “change lives'' for many in the trans community by including them in the formal job market.

The bill, promoted by the ruling Frente de Todos bloc and authored by legislator Gabriela Estévez (FdT-Córdoba), was approved by a 55-1 vote, with just six senators abstaining. It bears the name of campaigners Lohana Berkins and Diana Sacayan, who both passed away before its passage.

The initiative was backed by campaigning organisations, including the LGBTIQ+ League of the Provinces and the Federal Trans and Travesti Argentina Convocation.

https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argenti ... -law.phtml

[wjfox]

Methodist Church allows same-sex marriage in 'momentous' vote

Published 10 minutes ago

The Methodist Church has become the largest religious denomination in Britain to permit same-sex marriages.

A vote to change the definition of marriage at the Methodist Conference on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed by 254 in favour with 46 against.

Freedom of conscience clauses mean ministers will not be forced to conduct such weddings if they oppose the move.

Same-sex marriage is not allowed in the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.

However it is welcomed in the Scottish Episcopal Church and United Reformed Church.

The Methodist Church is Britain's fourth largest Christian denomination with about 164,000 members across more than 4,000 churches.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-57658161

[weatheriscool]

'I'll do whatever it takes: Jessica Alves, 38, has travelled to Brazil to become the FIRST known transgender woman to undergo a risky womb transplant to have a baby
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... plant.html

Jessica Alves has revealed she's travelled to Brazil in the hope that she can become the first transgender woman in history to have a womb transplant.

The TV personality is convinced the surgery will mean she will ovulate and have a baby through intercourse, although this has been disputed by doctors because her new uterus would not be connected to her fallopian tubes.

It is possible that Jessica could fall pregnant through IVF if she decided to go through with the £30,000 transplant.

Currently there has never officially been a successful womb transplant performed on a transgender woman, but Jessica claimed that several women have privately undergone the operation in Brazil.

[wjfox]

Scotland becomes first country in world to embed LGBT education in school curriculum

Thursday, 23rd September 2021, 3:08 pm

All school staff will be given a basic awareness e-learning course on LGBT inclusive education and a toolkit of LGBT inclusive education teaching resources.

A dedicated website will also be launched with resources for information to support young people.

Subjects across age groups will now include LGBT identities, issues and history, focused on promoting equality, reducing bullying and improving the educational experiences of LGBT children and young people.

Parents, teachers, young people and LGBT organisations helped to develop the website, e-learning course and teaching resources.

Campaign groups welcomed the move.

A report by charity Stonewall found nearly half of lesbian, gay, bi and trans pupils, including 64 per cent of trans pupils, are bullied at school for being LGBT.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/ ... um-3393389

[caltrek]

Law Enforcement Across the U.S. Work to Mandate LGBTQ Awareness Training
by Kierra Frazier
September 25, 2021

https://www.axios.com/law-enforcement-u ... dd020.html

Introduction:

(Axios) Police departments across the county are introducing LGBTQ awareness and cultural competency training to repair relationships between the community and law enforcement, NBC News reports.

Why it matters: The relationship has long been strained, and a study published by the Williams Institute in May found LGBTQ people are six times more likely than the general public to be stopped by police.

The big picture: Many police departments in the largest cities in the country have implemented some form of LGBTQ training, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Houston and Philadelphia.

The Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. has offered LGBTQ training since 2000. Officers are trained in intensive courses ranging from how to approach investigating suspected anti-LGBTQ hate crimes to using the correct pronouns for transgender people, per NBC News.
Police departments in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, recently implemented LGBTQ-specific training, including best practices in de-escalation for LGBTQ individuals, microaggressions and the historical relationship between law enforcement and the LGBTQ community.