President Obama has condemned the decision by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to sign an archaic anti-gay bill into law. The bill, which once even included the death penalty, calls for gay Ugandans or anyone “promoting” homosexuality to be jailed – potentially for life. Museveni made the decision to sign the bill after consulting with a…
BERLIN — The David Kato Vision & Voice Award has announced that the 2014 award will go to Cambodian transgender activist Sou Sotheavy. Now 75 years old, she has spent the last two decades working to establish a national network of organizations to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people across the country. Sou will…
In a landmark moment for LGBT rights the Scottish Parliament has passed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes to 18. Thirty-four years after Scotland decriminalized homosexuality, this victory comes after heated debates between religious bodies and MSPs (members of the Scottish Parliament) since the first petition was…
WASHINGTON – A new report from the Human Rights Campaign shows that President Obama’s unprecedented usage of words including “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual” and “transgender” in his public statements is contributing immensely to the political mainstreaming of LGBT people and marriage equality within American society. The report, which also examines the public statements of former Presidents George…
Uganda has passed its anti-LGBT law that has been under consideration since 2009. The law does not include the death penalty provision it once did, but rather imprisons LGBT people for life. “Uganda’s anti-LGBT law specifically targets LGBT people with brutal persecution and is one of the worst human rights violations of our time.” said Ross…
SACRAMENTO – The full state Senate today approved a resolution urging CalPERS and CalSTRS not to invest future resources from their pension plans in Russia. SR 18, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, passed with a 29-1 bipartisan vote. SR 18 was introduced in response to Russia’s new laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and…
SACRAMENTO – A resolution introduced by Sen. Mark Leno that urges the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) not to invest future resources from their pension plans in Russia passed the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee today with a 4-1 bipartisan vote. Senate Resolution 18 was introduced in…
While not quite on par with Boystown, the Castro District or KeyWest, the news coming out of Vietnam these days resembles less and less the stuff of third-world homophobia and more and more the growing sense of pride and community that these famed American enclaves have come to represent. In 2011, director Vũ Ngọc Đãng…
WASHINGTON – In an interview Tuesday with Jay Leno on NBC’s The Tonight Show, President Obama condemned a new Russian law that criminalizes even the most modest gestures of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The president stated that such laws violate “the basic morality that I think should transcend every country, and…
WASHINGTON – Claims made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that international LGBT visitors to Russia would be safe during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi appear to be coming apart at the seams today as Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko declared that all LGBT athletes within Russian borders will be very much at risk…
