This Week
EQCA to sponsor new legislation to expand equal restroom access in California
SAN FRANCISCO – Equality California announced Friday that it is sponsoring legislation, authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), that would establish the nation’s most progressive restroom access law. AB 1732, the Equal Restroom Access Act, would require single-occupancy restrooms in California businesses, government buildings, and public spaces to be identified as “all gender.” “Restrooms…
EIU set to fail LGBT community unless Internet domain-naming authority intervenes
NEW YORK, N.Y. — With claims from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that the word ‘GAY’ is “not a well-known abbreviation for the community of LGBTQIA people,” the international organization responsible for maintaining the Internet’s global domain system has denied dotgay LLC’s community application proposal to operate the .GAY top-level domain (TLD). Lexus Nexus search,…
New poll shows most Germans ready to support marriage equality
According to a new poll, the majority of Germans are ready for same-sex marriage to be the law of the land. The survey by YouGov published on Thursday shows over two-thirds of Germans want gay marriage to be legalized, reports The Local de. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Union said they were for legalization and with…
Bob Filner’s former chief of staff to release book
SAN DIEGO – An attorney and powerful woman in her own right, Lee Burdick thought she had seen, heard and litigated everything; but nothing could have prepared her for the political firestorm that exploded during her nine-month tenure as a key member of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s team. Her meteoric rise in the mayor’s…
Non-discrimination bill advances in Indiana Legislature with religious refusal language incorporated
Last night the Indiana Senate Rules & Legislative Procedure Committee voted to advance legislation that would exclude any and all protections for transgender Hoosiers, would undermine existing protections for race and religion and would remove the authority of municipalities to pass any new, fully inclusive LGBT non-discrimination protections at the local level. In addition, the…
South Dakota House of Representatives passes anti-transgender student bill
Today, by a vote of 58 to 10, the South Dakota House of Representatives passed discriminatory legislation targeting transgender students. Seeking to prevent transgender students in public schools from using facilities consistent with their gender identity, HB 1008 would put state law in direct conflict with the U.S. Department of Education and force public schools…
UC San Diego Health and nation’s cancer centers endorse HPV vaccination for prevention
In response to low national vaccination rates for the human papillomavirus (HPV), Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health has joined 68 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers in issuing a statement urging for increased HPV vaccination. With approximately 40 percent of girls and 21 percent of boys receiving the recommended three doses, these…
Indiana’s ‘Super-RFRA’ dies in committee
Indiana’s Senate Bill 66 – an anti-LGBT “Super RFRA” that would create sweeping exemptions encouraging people to pick and choose which laws they’re going to follow, has reportedly died in committee. The proposal would have allowed anyone who claims a religious exemption the right to discriminate against LGBT Hoosiers, visitors and other minorities. The legislation…
Assemblywoman Gonzalez announces human trafficking reform legislation
SACRAMENTO – California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) has announced human trafficking reforms that would for the first time in California, treat the buying and selling of sex separately, increasing penalties for those purchasing sex while decriminalizing prostitution for minors who are by definition being victimized. Assembly Bill 1708 would require a minimum fine and…