During Michael Jackson’s multiple facial surgeries and skin whitening procedures, armchair psychologists said his intent was clear, if troubling. The most commonly expressed reason given for the ever changing face and complexion of Jackson was he wanted to be less black. Longtime late night TV host and author Dick Cavett once told me he had…
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) introduced the Juror Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 864) to prohibit a person from being removed from a jury because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. “Serving on a jury is one of America’s most cherished civic duties,” said…
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly criticized the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for adding former Fox contributor Ben Carson to the group’s “extremist files” for his anti-LGBT comments. To defend Carson, O’Reilly invited a senior fellow from the Family Research Council (FRC), a group also listed on the SPLC’s “extremist files” for their anti-LGBT rhetoric, to denounce the SPLC, reports Media Matters for…
McKesson Corporation was recognized again as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation. For the second year in a row McKesson scored 100% on the HRC’s 2015 Corporate Equality Index, the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and…
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, Sr. (R-TX) have reintroduced the so-called State Marriage Defense Act which would require the federal government to recognize only marriages that are valid under the laws of the state in which a couple are domiciled. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) have strongly condemned…
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has rescinded an executive order signed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2007 that extended non-discrimination protections to state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The order required agencies under the governor’s direct control to ensure they have programs to prevent harassment against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals…
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has called out retailer Urban Outfitters for selling a striped tapestry featuring a single pink triangle, an unmistakable echo of uniforms Nazis issued to suspected gay male concentration camp prisoners. “Urban Outfitters has seized yet again on imagery of the Holocaust, one of the most…
WASHINGTON – Today, the Human Rights Campaign launched an unprecedented “People’s Brief” to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roberta Kaplan, the leading civil rights litigator who won a landmark Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor striking down Section 3 of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, is the author and lead counsel on the brief. The…
A San Diego man and his partner made history yesterday when they became the first male same-sex couple to be chosen for the ceremonial first kiss during the homecoming of submarine warship USS San Francisco. The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) returned to its home port at Naval Base Point…
WASHINGTON—After staying silent all morning—and tolerating Chief Justice Roy Moore’s lawless rampage against marriage equality over the past few days—Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has issued a statement. What does it say? Nothing. Nothing coherent, anyway. “This issue has created confusion with conflicting direction for Probate Judges in Alabama,” Bentley says, in a written statement posted…
