Six candidates for president have signed a pledge supporting the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA). FADA is a piece of legislation that would enshrine discrimination into law, prohibiting the federal government from stepping in when people or businesses discriminate because they believe “marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and…
Lesbian Air Force Major and DADT repeal advocate Adrianna Vorderbruggen has been killed in action in Afghanistan. Maj. Vorderbruggen was one of six American service members killed in Monday’s suicide attack in Bagram when a motorcycle bomb detonated, reports The Advocate. LGBT service member group Military Partners and Family Coalition confirmed Vorderbruggen’s death with a…
Monday, the New York City Commission on Human Rights released new guidance that makes clear what constitutes gender identity and gender expression discrimination under the NYC Human Rights Law, making it one of the strongest in the nation in protecting the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Although discrimination based on gender identity and…
LOS ANGELES — A coalition of California civil rights and LGBT organizations announced Monday that supporters of a proposed anti-transgender ballot initiative announced that they have failed to submit the signatures necessary to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. “Privacy for All”, the group behind the failed measure, needed to submit 365,880 valid signatures to the California Secretary of State’s…
Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it had finalized their new policy that will allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood only if they haven’t had sex or sexual contact with other men in a year. LGBT advocacy groups have been quick to criticize the new guidelines saying that they do…
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released final guidance on a long-awaited change to the current blood donation ban on gay and bisexual men. The guidance released today outlines the implementation of a deferral-based policy utilizing a one year period of abstinence from same-sex sexual activity for men. Today’s final guidance also…
Kathryn Knott, who stood accused of assaulting a gay couple in Philadelphia last year has been found guilty of simple assault and conspiracy to commit simple assault against Zachary Hesse, one of two victims, as well as reckless endangerment against Hesse and his partner, Andrew Haught, reports The Huffington Post. Knott, who is the daughter…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has announced that a record number of U.S. cities have achieved perfect scores on its 2015 Municipal Equality Index by establishing fully-inclusive local protections for LGBT people. The most notable trend in the annual report is the rapidly growing number of cities and towns across the nation stepping up to ensure that…
WASHINGTON — Following the news that Martin Shkreli has resigned as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), called on the drug maker’s interim CEO Ron Tilles to immediately reduce the cost of the life-saving drug Daraprim to its original price. “We hope that Martin Shkreli’s departure will mark the end of Turing…
Following his arrest on securities fraud charges, Martin Shkreli has resigned as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Turing, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, announced Shkreli’s resignation today and the appointment of Ron Tilles to the position of interim chief executive officer. Tilles will continue to serve as chairman of the Board of Directors. He said, “We…
