New national survey shows majority of Americans support open transgender military service

WASHINGTON – Friday, the American Military Partner Association (AMPA), the nation’s largest organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) military families, responded to the results of a new national survey that show a majority of Americans support open service by transgender people in the U.S. military.  The results were released by University of Illinois Springfield Survey Research…

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DNC unanimously approves a resolution in support of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage

Thursday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) body unanimously approved a resolution in support of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples throughout the country. The Washington Blade reports, “Same-sex marriage is a constitutionally guaranteed right nationwide and can no longer be denied by state laws,” reads the resolution. “The ruling…

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California Senate passes Mark Leno’s E-cigarette bill

SACRAMENTO – The Senate today, as part of the Legislature’s extraordinary session on health, passed legislation calling for new statewide regulations on electronic cigarettes. 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….

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Legislation introduced to protect LGBT Pennsylvanians from discrimination

HARRISBURG, Penn. — Wednesday, the Pennsylvania General Assembly introduced  the bipartisan Pennsylvania Fairness Act. Introduced by Representatives Dan Frankel (D-23) and Thomas H. Killion (R-168) in the House of Representatives and Senators Lawrence M. Farnese, Jr. (D-1) and Patrick M. Browne (R-16) in the Senate, this  legislation would update the state’s non-discrimination law to explicitly include…

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Facebook apologizes to transgender fashion line for rejecting ads under ‘Adult’ classification

PHILADELPHIA — For over 20 years, the fashion line Suddenly Fem has been serving the transgender community with fashion forward clothes designed for trans women. Suddenly Fem (Crossdresser.com) specializes in clothes, padding, and undergarments for transgender women as well as fashionable crossdressers. When the online and catalog based company tried to advertise through Facebook in summer…

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Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denies emergency motion from anti-gay Kentucky Clerk

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today denied a request from Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky to issue a stay on a lower court’s ruling that orders her to immediately resume issuing marriage licenses – including to same-sex couples – regardless of her religious objections to marriage equality. U.S. District…

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Transgender Law Center condemns Rentboy.com raid

Yesterday, federal agents  raided the offices of Rentboy.com, and arrested the CEO of Rentboy.com, Jeffrey Hurant, and six Rentboy.com employees on charges of racketeering and promoting prostitution. The Transgender Law Center has issued a statement condemning the raid, reiterating a call to decriminalize sex work. The release states: This bust comes at a time when human…

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