HRC calls on organizations to avoid hotels owned by anti-LGBT Sultan of Brunei

WASHINGTON — Following Brunei’s decision this week to advance a series of penal code reforms that will include stoning as a possible punishment for relations between its LGBT citizens, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) sent letters today to the leadership of several organizations that currently plan to host events at American hotels owned by the…

Read More

NOM’s Maggie Gallagher sounds defeatist note in latest blog post

National same-sex marriage opponent and the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) poster child Maggie Gallagher sounded a defeatist note in her latest blog entry entitled, “Cooper, Mozilla, Firefox,” reports Carolyn Lochhead, the Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. She writes, “Maggie Gallagher, a founder and former president of the National Organization for Marriage, a…

Read More

Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla successfully lobbies California legislature against ‘panic defense’

According to a press release from Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla’s office, a measure, AB 2501, was approved yesterday by the Assembly Public Safety committee. This bill ensures that criminal defendants cannot use the so-called “panic defense” claim in an attempt to lower a charge from murder to manslaughter, or to escape conviction all together. “It…

Read More

Israeli justice minister to promote inheritance law for same-sex partners

Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is planning to promote an amendment to the Inheritance Law that would allow same-sex partners to be each others’ heirs when the Knesset reconvenes for its summer session May 11, reports GayAsiaNews.com. “Love is love, and a family is a family, and it’s inconceivable that the law allows for institutional…

Read More

Jason Collins to be honored by Point Foundation

LOS ANGELES  — Point Foundation (Point) will present its Leadership Award to Jason Collins of the Brooklyn Nets. Collins is the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL). Point is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer…

Read More

HRC Foundation’s ‘Welcoming Schools’ program awards 12 elementary schools with Inaugural Seal of Excellence (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON – With increased urgency to stop bullying in America’s schools, educators are working diligently to get to the root of the problem in early grades.   This week, The HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools Program is recognizing ten schools and two school districts that have gone the extra mile to create safe schools. Welcoming Schools provides…

Read More

U.S. Dept. of Education: transgender students protected under Title IX

WASHINGTON – Today the U.S Department of Education issued guidance clarifying that federal Title IX prohibits discrimination against transgender students. The Human Rights Campaign, welcomed the guidance issued by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights, which says “Title IX’s sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform…

Read More

San Diego Opera board elects new officers; over $300k raised in three days

SAN DIEGO – San Diego Opera’s board of directors elected new officers during a board meeting Monday, April 28, 2014. The new executive committee includes Carol Lazier as president, Courtney Ann Coyle as executive vice president, James A. Merritt, M.D. as vice president of finance and Frances R. Marshall as secretary/parliamentarian. This election fills roles…

Read More