San Diego Pride announced today that multiplatinum artist Kesha will be headlining Saturday night at San Diego’s Pride Music Festival. Kesha has used her international fame as a platform to educate others about the LGBT community, highlight inequality, and empower others to be themselves unapologetically. Her 2010 anthem “We R Who We R” was a…
American singer, songwriter Prince has died; he was 57. He died at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, near Minneapolis, today after suffering flu-like symptoms for several weeks. “It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park…
NEW YORK — With the recent passage of North Carolina’s HB2 Law aka “The Bathroom Law,” and its message of exclusion, high profile corporations and celebrities have spoken out, canceled events or threatened sanctions if the law is not repealed. Transgender actress and activist Shakina Nayfack (who can be seen in the upcoming second season…
SACRAMENTO – The Senate Banking Committee Wednesday passed legislation that helps prevent unnecessary foreclosures when a primary mortgage holder passes away. Senate Bill 1150, authored by Senators Mark Leno and Cathleen Galgiani, closes a loophole in California law that fails to provide surviving spouses and children important protections against foreclosure that are available to other…
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Wednesday, the Alabama House Judiciary Committee’s 7-5 voted to advance H.B. 413 — legislation that would add to the state’s hate crimes statute critical new protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Juandalynn Givan and Patricia Todd, now heads to the full…
The United Kingdom’s Foreign Office warned its LGBT citizens of the risks of traveling to North Carolina and Mississippi, which have enacted anti-LGBT laws. The updated travel warning comes just ahead of President Obama’s planned visit to England. The new Foreign Office advice states: “The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute (Victory) released a new research brief titled More Than Represent: LGBT Elected Officials Drive Equality in the States that shows the relationship between the number of openly LGBT public officials a state has and its level of LGBT equality. There is clear evidence…
The Tennessee General Assembly recently voted to pass HB 1840/SB 1556. Also known as Hate Bill 1840, HB1840 will permit counselors to deny services and refer clients based on the provider’s “strongly held beliefs.” Not only is the proposed legislation discriminatory in nature, but it is also an unnecessary government intrusion that could result in costly unintended consequences…
Today the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. Department of Education’s assertion that federal civil rights laws protect transgender students from discrimination. In a 2-1 decision, the court affirmed the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Act of 1972 as protecting transgender students from discrimination, including allowing them to use…
Executives from Time Warner Cable, T-Mobile US, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Etsy, Zynga, and others have signed onto an open letter now including over 60 major CEOs and business leaders urging Missouri lawmakers to stop the discriminatory Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 39 from moving forward. SJR 39 would lead to a ballot measure that proposes to…
