Steve Lee, Editor

Teamsters in hand billing action at Starbucks corporate headquarters

SEATTLE— Teamsters from Local 117 in Tukwila, Wash. conducted a hand billing action at Starbucks corporate headquarters in Seattle on Wednesday, demanding that the company hold its food supplier Taylor Farms accountable for human rights violations at its Tracy, Calif. plant. Passing out leaflets that read “Starbucks: Silence Equals Abuse,” members of the Teamsters along with…

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First-ever ‘Pride Match’ held in Australia (VIDEO)

The first-ever professional “Pride Match” has been held in Australia as part of efforts by Aussie sports to stamp out homophobia. It was played on national television between two very high profile Professional Australian Rules Football teams. St Kilda Football Club took on Sydney Swans in the inaugural AFL Pride Game at Etihad Stadium Saturday Aug….

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LGBTQ Advocates reject Trump’s ‘more police’ call as ‘out of touch’

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund is rejecting Donald Trump’s call for “more police” in black neighborhoods as being “out of touch with reality and the reality of black lives.” Tuesday in West Bend, Wis. Trump called for more police in America’s inner cities, arguing that Democratic policies have failed minority communities and…

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Egyptian envoy boycotts UN’s new monitor on anti-gay violence

GENEVA — A 5-member UN human rights committee announced that a Thai law professor is its choice to be the UN’s first monitor against anti-gay violence, yet an Egyptian diplomat on the panel is boycotting the mandate. In a report circulated by the president of the UN human rights council (UNHRC), its Consultative Group—comprised of…

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Drunk driving prevention bill wins Senate approval

SAN DIEGO – Legislation by California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) to require all restaurant and bar employees who sell or serve alcoholic beverages to undergo Responsible Beverage Service training was approved by the State Senate on a unanimous 36-2 vote today. It now returns to the Assembly for final consideration. Assembly Bill 2121 will make responsible beverage training mandatory…

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US Navy makes history by naming ship after LGBTQ civil rights leader Harvey Milk

At a ceremony in San Francisco Tuesday, the U.S. Navy made history by naming a new Military Sealift Command ship after Harvey Milk, the former Navy diver and pioneer in the LGBTQ civil rights movement who was assassinated in 1978. In another historic first, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus selected transgender Navy veteran Paula…

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UC San Diego named world’s 14th best university for fourth consecutive year

The University of California San Diego has been named the 14th best university in the world for the fourth year in a row by the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Nationally, UC San Diego was named the country’s 12th best university. “UC San Diego’s culture of innovation, collaboration and risk-taking has once again…

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EQCA endorses Proposition 63, ‘Safety for All’ gun safety initiative

LOS ANGELES– Equality California (EQCA) announced today that it has endorsed Proposition 63, the “Safety for All” ballot initiative backed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Following the shootings in June at an Orlando LGBT nightclub, a spike in homicides of LGBT people and an ongoing worldwide epidemic of murders of transgender women, Equality California has made…

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