RICHMOND, Va. (CNN) – Lawmakers in Virginia have voted down Tracy Thorne-Begland’s nomination as a judge to the Richmond General District Courts. The vote was 33-31 with 10 abstentions. He needed 51 votes. Delegate Bob Marshall (R -Manassas) wanted Thorne-Begland, who is openly gay, removed from consideration because of the prosecutor’s past involvement with the…
Iran has recalled its ambassador to Azerbaijan after accusing the country of planning a “gay parade” for this coming Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest. The Telegraph reports that Azerbaijan’s hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest – a flamboyant annual pageant of pop music from around Europe – has been condemned by some Iranian clerics who have…
Congressman Bob Filner (D-California) has joined with several prominent LGBT civil rights leaders from San Diego and across the country, calling on the US Navy to name “ … the next appropriate ship after Harvey Milk.” The late civil rights icon, Harvey Milk was a Navy veteran who began his service during the Korean War….
(CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — Kevin Kloosterman, a former Mormon bishop, said he “came out” last year — just not in the way that many people associate with coming out. “I came out and basically made a personal apology to (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) folks for really not understanding their issues, not…
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa attorney general’s office has continued to refuse an accurate death certificate to Jenny and Jessica Buntemeyer, a married Iowa couple seeking an accurate death certificate for their stillborn baby, Brayden. Lambda Legal and One Iowa, a gay rights advocacy group, have delivered more than 8,000 petitions to the Iowa…
(CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — The students featured in a video about being gay at Brigham Young University are not in obvious violation of the honor code, according to Carri Jenkins, an assistant to the president of BYU. Jenkins went on to say that for the video alone, the students would not be…
MOSCOW (CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — Police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg have arrested two gay rights activists for breaching a new law that bans the “promotion of homosexuality” to minors, state news agency RIA Novosti reported Saturday. The two men were detained on Thursday after picketing against the law, which…
Acclaimed poet and writer Adrienne Rich passed away Wednesday at the age of 82 in her Santa Cruz home from complications of rheumatoid arthritis. Known for her influence in feminist culture, gay rights, and anti-war mantra, the award-winning author leaves behind a prized collection of more than a dozen volumes of literary works including poetry…
Russian lawmakers in St. Petersburg passed a bill Wednesday with a 31-6 vote that would allow officials to fine LGBT activists and allies on the merit of “advocating” gay and lesbian relationships in public. The bill also aims to institute fines for promoting pedophilia. The bill ban events such as gay pride parades and any…
Twitter announced Thursday that it will begin to restrict Tweets based on content in specific countries. Ranging from “pro-Nazi” to possibly gay-centric content, the social platform said on their official blog they would allow content to be censored depending on the country’s speech policies. “As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that…
