LGBT+ News and Discussions

weatheriscool
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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
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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.
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caltrek
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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.
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weatheriscool
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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
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caltrek
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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.”
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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
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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
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'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.
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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
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caltrek
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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.
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