Today Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a recently-passed bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community on the basis of religious freedom. This morning, HRC delivered 65,000 petition signatures to Gov. Brewer calling on her to veto the bill. The so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act…
Today, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that Texas’ ban on marriage for lesbian and gay couples is unconstitutional in the lawsuit brought by Cleopatra DeLeon, Nicole Dimetman, Vic Holmes and Mark Phariss who were represented by the law firm Akin Gump. The ruling is stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages will not occur immediately in…
Steve Grand has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his first album, which he hopes to release in May. And to give everyone a sneak peek, he’s released a new music video, “Back to California,” on YouTube (see above). The audio track is available for free on Bandcamp.com (and also on iTunes). Check out Gran’s…
WASHINGTON – With mounting opposition to Arizona’s so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called on other states considering such measures to abandon their own “license to discriminate” bills. In addition to Arizona, similar bills have been introduced in Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon (proposed ballot measure), South Dakota and…
NEW YORK, — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay have spoken out against the anti-homosexuality law signed into force in Uganda, saying it violates basic human rights and endangers lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the country. The law criminalizes and imposes life imprisonment for homosexuality,…
SAN DIEGO – The California Music Educators Association (CMEA) has chosen Kevin Beiser, San Diego Unified School District’s recently elected Board of Trustees president, as the 2013 CMEA Legislative Music Leadership awardee. Beiser had earlier received recognition from the San Diego chapter of the CMEA, which nominated him for the state-wide award. “After receiving the…
The effort to repeal the School Success and Opportunity Act-California’s new law ensuring that all children have opportunities to do well in school- has failed to qualify for the ballot. The law-also known as Assembly Bill 1266-went into effect on January 1st, ensuring that schools have the guidance they need to make sure all students,…
Global Entertainment Properties 1, LLC, (GEP) producers of The Complete Frida Kahlo exhibition, today announced an extension of the exhibition in San Diego through June 8. The exhibition, on display at historic NTC at Liberty Station, was originally planned to be in San Diego through Jan. 19, with San Diego being the first stop on…
Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni signed a law imposing harsh penalties for homosexuality today, defying protests from rights groups, criticism from Western donors and a U.S. warning that it will complicate relations. Reuters reported that the new bill strengthened existing punishments for anyone caught having gay sex, imposing jail terms of up to life for “aggravated…
WASHINGTON – Following the Senate passage of Arizona’s so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin released the following statement: “Religious groups have a long established first amendment ability to operate according to their own beliefs. However, when individuals or businesses go out into the commercial market, they must abide by legal…
