The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear seven court cases that challenge the Affordable Care Act's ( 2010 ) accommodation to the birth control benefit, which currently ensures that individuals have access to birth control coverage as part of their employee health insurance plan. National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey issued a statement saying, "Equality opponents have now taken their fight all the way to the Supreme Court in their attempt to use religion to block coverage for reproductive health care. We live in a nation that provides freedom of religion and freedom from religion. That means that faith should never be used as an excuse to discriminate against millions of people and vital health care access."
A petition posted on Charge.org is asking major LGBT organizations and media outlets—including Lambda Legal, GLAAD and Human Rights Campaign—to sever ties with trans people and issues, LGBTQ Nation noted. Several groups have responded to the petition, which has more than 1,500 supporters. GLAAD responded, in part, "GLAAD stands firmly with the transgender community and unequivocally rejects the outrageous and destructive idea that the 'T' be removed from LGBT."
A conservative Christian group, Faith Driven Consumer, has taken a page out of the Human Rights Campaign's playbook, releasing a ranking of corporations that are most hostile to LGBT and reproductive rights, The New Civil Rights Movement reported. Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby topped the group's Faith Equality Index, which rates more than 300 companies based on 14 criteria. ( Others near the top include Interstate Batteries, Tyson Foods, Cracker Barrel, Walmart and Thrivent Financial. ) Those receiving the lowest scores include Bank of America, Unilever, DirecTV, Expedia and Nationwide.
A new Gallup Poll shows that nearly 100,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since Obergefell v. Hodges brought marriage equality to all 50 states, according to NewNowNext.com . Issued Nov. 5, the study reveals that while marriages in states that previously banned gay marriage have obviously gone up, they've also risen in states that previously allowed same-sex marriage. Gallup estimates there are now approximately 972,000 people in same-sex marriages, up from about 780,000 before the June ruling.
In Massachusetts' Barnstable Superior Court, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod ( ASGCC ) filed suit against Barnstable for preventing the group from providing free sterile needles to intravenous drug users at its Hyannis offices, according to a press release. On Sept. 22, Barnstable's director of public health hand-delivered to ASGCC a handwritten "cease and desist" order in which he asserted that ASGCC was distributing syringes in violation of Massachusetts law. SGCC is being represented by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders ( GLAD ) and AIDS Action Committee ( AAC ).
A lawsuit alleges that Chelsea Manning's required male prisoner haircut makes her feel "like a freak and a weirdo" and may cause her to self-castrate or commit suicide, The New York Daily News reported. Officials in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, are forcing Manning, the Wikileaks whistleblower who was born as a male named Bradley, to wear her hair no longer than two inches, the suit says. The complaint also says that the guideline impedes Manning's treatment for gender dysphoria.
Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Martin O'Malley talked LGBTQ policies while speaking at the Iowa Safe Schools Spirit Awards. In part, he said, "As president, I intend to use every power at my disposal to require that all schools and districts implement anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies that are crafted specifically to prevent and prohibit bullying of LGBTQ students." O'Malley also talked about passing the Equality Act ( which the Obama administration more recently endorsed ) and providing quality care for the LGBTQ community.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz threw a "Rally for Religious Liberty" at Bob Jones University, inviting loads of anti-gay activists to South Carolina, LGBTQ Nation noted. Cruz argued that the terrorist attacks in Paris were further evidence that Christians are under attack—despite the fact that the attacks took place at a myriad of nightlife hot spots and targeted no churches whatsoever. The event comes on the heels of the National Religious Liberties Conference, in which Cruz joined two other GOP presidential candidates: Mike Huckabee and Gov. Bobby Jindal.
In Texas, the Dallas City Council has updated its anti-discrimination ordinance, clarifying that "a person's gender is determined by the person's own perception of their gender," CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported. The move passed unanimously. The move came a week after voters in Houston rejected that city's equal-rights ordinance.
Several hundred people with roots in the Mormon faith gathered in Salt Lake City on Nov. 14 to renounce the church's new policies targeting gays and their children, the Associated Press reported. Billed as a "mass resignation" by Mormons, people filled out paperwork and dropped off the resignation letters at a church building. They said the new policy that bans baptisms for children of gay parents until the kids turn 18 and disavow same-sex relationships spurred them to come and formally cut ties.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Iowa and cooperating attorneys at the Des Moines law firm Babich Goldman, P.C., filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission against The Drury Inn hotel for allegedly discriminating against a Black transgender woman based on her gender identity and race in July 2015, a press release stated. Meagan Taylor, a Black transgender woman, and her best friend, who is also Black and transgender, checked into the Drury Inn, a hotel in West Des Moines, Iowa, on July 13. The two said they were harassed and felt unwelcome, culiminating in the inn's staff calling the police to report they suspected Taylor and her friend were engaging in prostitution because they were "men dressed like women."
A report shows that people who took a daily pill to protect against HIV were well protected against catching the virus—even when they had unprotected sex and caught other sexually transmitted diseases, NBC News reported. Only two people out of about 500 taking part in the study got infected over the four-year study, the team reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Each volunteer got a free supply of Truvada, the pill that's been shown in other studies to protect uninfected people from the virus.
Two Detroit-area nurses jointly adopted five children, closing a case that started when they challenged Michigan's restrictions on adoption and helped pave the way for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage, the Associated Press reported. Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer are raising the children, who range from 18 months to 6 years, at their Hazel Park home. The women jointly adopted four kids and added a toddler who had been their foster daughter.
A gay man was tied up and murdered in Montgomery County, Texas, in what police say could be a hate crime, Gay Star News reported. Marc Pourner, 28, went missing after receiving a "disturbing phone call," according to About News. His body—which showed signs of blunt force trauma to the head, and had been gagged and tied—was found in a wooded area on near his burned-out truck.
A lesbian mother in Alabama asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Alabama Supreme Court decision refusing to recognize her as an adoptive parent of her three children and holding that Alabama does not have to recognize second-parent adoptions granted by Georgia courts, according to an NCLR press release. The mother also asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order permitting her to visit her children while her appeal is pending. As a result of an earlier Alabama order, she has not had visitation with her children—ages 12, 10 and 10—for nearly seven months, even though she has raised them from their birth.
GLAAD has released a resource guide, "HIV & AIDS in the News: A Guide for Reporting in a New Era of Prevention and Treatment," which helps newsmakers fairly and accurately cover stories about HIV & AIDS, according to a press release. GLAAD also responded to NBC News's interview with actor Charlie Sheen, during which Sheen announced that he is HIV-positive. "To eradicate HIV once and for all, we must first eradicate the stigma attached to it," said GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis.
Michael Wright, an NBA draft pick for the New York Knicks and a former player for the University of Arizona Wildcats, was found murdered—and authorities are investigating whether the homicide could be related to a man Wright allegedly met via Grindr, the popular gay dating app, according to Advocate.com . Wright was not known publicly as a gay athlete, which is why speculation is rampant after police offered Grindr as a clue.
The Department of Veterans Affairs opened its first health-care clinic dedicated to transgender service members, The Huffington Post noted. Housed within the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio, the clinic will offer primary-care services alongside hormonal therapy and mental health care. The VA center, which provides care to more than 112,000 people, is currently treating approximately two dozen transgender patients.
The Western New England University School of Law faculty voted unanimously in favor of a resolution of support for pending legislation that would expand nondiscrimination protection for transgender individuals in businesses and other facilities that are open to the public, including within higher education, a press release stated. Other organizations in higher education have also expressed public support for pending legislation, including Harvard University, Tufts University, Mount Holyoke College and the Boston College Lambda Law Students Association, among others.
Lambda Legal has debuted one of its newest resources, Know Your Rights in Court, on the rights of LGBT people and people living with HIV when navigating the court system, according to a press release. The hub is accompanied by an interactive video, in which Lambda Legal Fair Courts Project Director Eric Lesh helps answer some of the most frequently asked questions. Visit http://www.lambdalegal.org/know-your-rights.
Michael Sam has applauded the University of Missouri's football team for taking a stand, Gay Star News. Sam's alma mater, where he was a star player just two years ago, has been dealing with racial tensions on campus for some time now but it wasn't until the team threatened to strike that the situation got national attention—which resulted in university president Timothy M. Wolfe resigning. "Coach [Gary] Pinkel got behind his team and believed they had a just cause and we protect our own here," Sam said during an interview with MSNBC. "I came to this university because of the family atmosphere.
Evanston, Illinois, recently became just the seventh city in the United States to create legislation requiring general-neutral signage at public restrooms, according to the Evanston Patch. Due to certain restrictions in the Illinois Plumbing Code, the ordinance only requires the new signage at places that either have only one public restroom, or three or more. The code requires that if there are two restrooms, one must be designated for men and the other for women.
The National LGBTQ Task Force announced that Victoria Rodriguez-Roldan has joined the organization as the new Trans/Gender Non-Confirming Justice Project Director, according to a press release. Rodriguez-Roldan began her work at the Task Force as the organization kicked off a series of actions as part of Transgender Awareness Week.
After a very successful inaugural "HIV Is Not a Crime" national conference, the SERO Project and Positive Women's Network-USA are planning a second national conference to support repeal and modernization of laws criminalizing HIV non-disclosure, perceived or potential exposure and transmission, to be held in June 2016, according to a press release. "HIV is Not a Crime II," will aim to unite and train advocates living with HIV and allies from across the country on laws criminalizing people living with HIV and on strategies and best practices for repealing such laws.
The newest ad for Barbie's Moschino doll line features a new figure for the first time ever: a boy, according to a New York Post item. "Moschino Barbie is so fierce!" the boy yells before placing a designer purse on the doll's arm. The ad, released earlier this month, is the latest in a series of steps to remove gender from toy shopping. Target made waves this year when it decided to stop labeling toys as for boys or girls, simply using the term "kids" instead, while Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven moved to a gender-neutral product a few years ago.
Radio-show host Elvis Duran will preside over the 2016 Miami Beach Gay Pride parade and festival as grand marshal, a press release stated. Duran will lead the parade that is expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators on Sunday, April 10. "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show" added more than 30 stations in the first year of syndication; today, the program can be heard in nearly 80 markets.
Several drag performers ( and two stage technicians ) have left the "Ladies of La Femme" show at Minneapolis' Gay 90's nightclub, CBS Minnesota noted. Among the performers who were also leaving the Gay 90's were Bebe Zahara Benet, the winner of the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Show director Nina DiAngelo cited "disrespect, lack of appreciation, and a general disregard for your entertainers, your employees, your patrons" as their reasons for leaving.
