Raffi Freedman-Gurspan has been appointed by President Obama as the White House’s primary LGBT liaison. BuzzFeed News broke the story first as Freedman-Gurspan becomes the first transgender person in that role. In 2015, Freedman-Gurspan was hired by President Obama as an Outreach and Recruitment Director in the Presidential Personnel Office at the White House. She…
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has announced that HRC’s Board of Directors, comprised of community leaders from across the nation, voted Friday to issue the following Congressional endorsements focusing on incumbent members of Congress. “From supporting nationwide marriage equality, to co-sponsoring the Equality Act, these members of Congress have demonstrated a strong commitment…
Hillary Clinton has apologized for remarks she made prior to Nancy Reagan’s funeral on Friday praising in particular Nancy Reagan for starting “a national conversation” on HIV/AIDS. Clinton said, “And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan–in particular Mrs. Reagan–we started a national conversation when before nobody would talk about it, nobody wanted to do anything about…
Thursday, by a vote of 23 to 7 the Missouri Senate advanced Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 39 to the House of Representatives. Gaining national attention after a historic filibuster by Democrats earlier this week, the measure proposes to allow individuals, organizations, and businesses to use religion as a valid excuse to discriminate against LGBT people. Similar…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has announced the launch of their Business Coalition for the Equality Act, a coalition of 60 major employers that have officially endorsed the bipartisan Equality Act. Since HRC joined with lawmakers and advocates last July to introduce the Equality Act in Congress, HRC has continued to build support…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Equality California has joined a diverse coalition of 326 immigration, civil rights, labor, and social service groups that filed an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Texas. The brief urges the court to lift an injunction that blocks executive actions on immigration that President Obama announced in…
SACRAMENTO – California is set to regulate electronic cigarettes under legislation today approved by both houses of the Legislature. SB X2 5, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, protects the public against exposure to e-cigarettes by ensuring they are accurately defined as tobacco products and fall under the state’s existing smoke-free laws. It also requires that…
WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee has confirmed the first openly gay leader of a U.S. military service, voting Thursday to approve the nomination of Eric Fanning to be Army secretary. President Obama’s historic nomination of Fanning to serve as secretary of the Army now heads to the full Senate for a final vote….
Eight senators in Missouri filibustered for a historic 39 hours to prevent a discriminatory religious exemption bill from moving forward in the legislature. SJ39 is a bill that would ask the voters of Missouri to amend their constitution to allow religious organizations and individuals to use their faith to legally justify refusing services and benefits…
ALEXANDRIA,Va.—A new analysis by Avalere and Mental Health America (MHA) finds that significant barriers to quality care for individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) exist, that insurance coverage does not necessarily equal access to care, and that patients often feel left out of their own treatment. This infographic summarizes the results found in the white…
