AUSTIN, Texas — Today, the Texas Senate advanced SB 6 — titled the “Privacy Protection Act” — a bill expressly intended to discriminate against and block facility access for transgender Texans. The full Senate voted to advance the legislation by a vote of 21-10. The bill would overturn non-discrimination ordinances currently providing critical protections in…
Thom Senzee, author of this article, is a West Coast-based freelance journalist, and a regular contributor to San Diego LGBT Weekly. Longtime San Diego restaurateur, Brian Stout, former owner of Brians’ American Eatery (the plural apostrophe noting the shared first name of the owners of the eatery, which once occupied the site on Washington Street…
A motorist who struck and killed a 78-year-old tourist on Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest surrendered March 10 to begin his 180-day jail term for hit and run and driving under the influence of alcohol. Robert Anthony Dean, 60, told officials he was drinking alcohol at The Caliph, a popular gay bar, and left at 10:45…
A May 8 preliminary hearing was set for a prisoner who was recently charged with murdering a 15-year-old boy who had been sexually assaulted nearly 30 years ago. A DNA profile was developed due to recent advances in forensic technology and it matched Russell Taylor, now 56, who was serving a sentence of 25 years…
Hate crimes in the city of San Diego decreased by only one incident in 2016 over hate crimes committed in 2015 for a total of 35 crimes, according to the police chief’s report on crime statistics. There were 11 crimes attributed to the anti-gay bias of an attacker in 2016 as compared with 14 such…
LONDON — This March 2017, BFI Flare, London, one of the world’s oldest LGBTQ film festivals will have a special focus on South Asia’s biggest LGBTQ film festival KASHISH. Festival Director Sridhar Rangayan will be at BFI Flare to talk about contemporary Indian LGBTQ films. “It is an absolute honor that BFI Flare, one of…
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.— Out & Equal Workplace Advocates Founder and CEO, Selisse Berry, announced Wednesday that she will be stepping down as CEO and moving into an advisory role in August 2017. Berry started Out & Equal in 1996, after her own experience with workplace discrimination, at a time when few LGBT people were out…
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The Senate Governance and Finance Committee Wednesday voted 5-2 to pass SB 2 – the Building Homes and Jobs Act – legislation authored by Senator Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) that will create a permanent source of funding for affordable housing. The bill was previously endorsed by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee and…
Monday, 13 March, the United States Department of State announced that its official delegation to the 61st annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) includes representatives of two organizations known to oppose the UN human rights system, LGBTIQ rights, and women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights: the Center for Family and…
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) introduced the Juror Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit removal from a jury based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA) joined Davis as lead cosponsor of the bill. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. “Equal treatment is a…
