Created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to the violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI people internationally, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) has established itself the single most important date for LGBTI communities to mobilize on a worldwide scale. Today the…
SACRAMENTO — Dozens of LGBT activists and allies fanned out across the California Capitol Monday, meeting with legislators in support of ten bills that form Equality California’s 2016 legislative package and priorities. Each of the priority bills would significantly improve the lives of LGBT Californians in various ways and stand in direct contrast to laws…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In this week’s address, Grammy Award-winning artist Macklemore joined President Obama to discuss a disease that affects far too many Americans: addiction. Macklemore opened up about his own experience, his life in recovery, and the loss of a friend who overdosed on prescription drugs at a young age – emphasizing that substance…
ENCINITAS, Calif. — Prompted by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signing into law a bill allowing mental health professionals to deny service to prospective LGBTQ patients if it conflicts with their religious convictions, The Centers for Spiritual Living made the decision to cancel a contract with the Sheraton Hotel in Nashville, where it was scheduled to…
Late GOP Sen. Jesse Helms, North Carolina, was fond of the word “pervert” when it came to LGBT people. He intended, of course, “pervert” as a noun not a verb. To be clear, when Helms referred to me and my federal colleagues as a “bunch of perverts” he meant we were federal workers who practiced…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House has announced that the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Barbara Satin has been appointed to serve on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based Neighborhood Partnerships. Satin is the first transgender woman to serve on this presidential body. “I am both honored and humbled to be selected to serve on the President’s advisory…
Today, the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the United States Department of Justice issued guidance on Title IX and the right of transgender students to attend school free from discrimination based on sex. The guidance affirms that schools, colleges, and universities must provide transgender students with a safe and…
WASHINGTON– Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released the following statement after Donald Trump declined this morning to support the Obama Administration’s important announcement that school districts should ensure that transgender students are treated with dignity and allowed equal access to facilities, such as restrooms, consistent with their gender identity. “Trump’s reckless anti-LGBT suggestion is to turn the…
WASHINGTON – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights has implemented a regulation that provides explicit protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex stereotyping, including for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, in healthcare and insurance under the provisions of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)….
The Massachusetts State Senate has voted to extend commonsense non-discrimination protections to the state’s transgender residents and visitors. While Massachusetts state law already prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in housing and employment, the new legislation will extend the same crucial protections to public accommodations. Following expected approval by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the bill will head…
