New York State Senator Brad Hoylman (Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) A gay state senator has spoken out after he was rejected from giving blood, despite meeting the new official guidelines for doing so. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in February that it would “immediately” relax rules imposed during the AIDS
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Aimee Stephens with her wife, Donna, outside the US Supreme Court on October 8, 2019, before judges heard her historic case. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Aimee Stephens, the woman who brought the first-ever transgender civil rights case to the Supreme Court, has tragically died. Stephens, 58, had kidney disease and had been receiving hospice
Republican Denver Riggleman lost his party’s support after officiating a same-sex wedding (Facebook/Denver Riggleman) Republicans in Virginia are attempting to oust one of their own house representatives for the simple reason that he officiated a same-sex wedding. Denver Riggleman, a libertarian-leaning business owner and Republican congressperson, has represented Virginia’s 5th congressional district since 2018. His
Mizz June eventually recovered from COVID-19 but she is still scared she could contract it again. (Mizz June/ Facebook) A trans woman who contracted coronavirus has described how she was told to stay home by first responders while coughing up blood, highlighting healthcare barriers for LGBT+ people, especially queer people of colour. Singer and actress Mizz
World-renowned illusionists and conservationists Siegfried and Roy (right) pose with their white tiger in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Siegfried and Roy/The Mirage via Getty Images) Roy Horn, the tiger-levitating entertainer who dazzled Las Vegas audiences as half of magic duo Siegfried and Roy, has died from COVID-19 complications. Roy Horn died at MountainView
Stonewall historian David Carter speaking in New York in 2009. (Screenshot/Fora TV/YouTube) David Carter, the gay historian who authored the “definitive history” of the Stonewall Uprising, has died from a heart attack at the age of 67. Carter died May 1 in his New York apartment, according to the Washington Blade. His brother, Bill, told
Aimee Stephens outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, October 8, 2019. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Aimee Stephens, the woman who brought the first-ever transgender civil rights case to the Supreme Court, is receiving hospice care at home after her health took a turn for the worse. Her case was one of a
Appearing on The View, Gabrielle Union gave advice to parents of trans kids. (The View/ YouTube) Gabrielle Union has said that parents who “throw away” their trans kids are “bizarre, sad and pathetic”. The Bring It On actress has four kids with former NBA star Dwyane Wade, including Wade’s 12-year-old daughter Zaya, who came out as transgender in
Sven Sundgaard had worked at the TV station for 14 years. (explorewithsven/ Instagram) A beloved and super-hot gay weatherman has been unceremoniously fired after calling out Trump-supporting, far-right, anti-lockdown protesters. Sven Sundgaard, 39, is a gay vlogger and until last week was a weatherman for TV station KARE 11, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Queerty,
Failed Republican congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine made tired claims about Michelle Obama being trans. (Getty/Twitter) The release of Michelle Obama’s new Netflix documentary Becoming has, sadly, revived transphobic rumours about her gender. The rumours that Michelle Obama is a transgender woman have remerged on Twitter in recent days, thanks in part to failed Republican congressional
Jim Bakker suggested that Silver Solution was a gift from God that could eliminate coronavirus. (YouTube) Anti-LGBT+ televangelist Jim Bakker has said he is being “unfairly targeted” after a lawsuit was filed against him for peddling a “miracle cure” for coronavirus. Bakker and his TV production company, Morningside Church Productions Inc, were named in a
Kevin Spacey during a rare public appearance in August. (Getty) Kevin Spacey has compared his public fall from grace amid sexual assault allegations to the coronavirus pandemic. Spacey was first accused of abusing Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp when he was 14-years-old back in 2017. In response, he chose to come out as gay
A Florida appeals court has ditched vital LGBT+ discrimination protections in the middle of a global pandemic. Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals struck down the law, which protected LGBT+ people’s right to public accommodation, employment and housing, in a ruling last Friday (May 1). Plaintiffs in the case argued that the LGBT+ protections, which
Joe Biden (Frederick M. Brown/Getty) The biggest transgender activist group in the United States has said Joe Biden is “the advocate and president we need” in a powerful endorsement. Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) Action Fund threw her organisation’s support behind Biden in a wide-ranging statement released today (May 5).
Franklin Graham has claimed the media and “liberal politicians” are using the coronavirus pandemic to “destroy” Donald Trump. Graham, the notorious anti-LGBT+ evangelist, made the comments in a Facebook post shortly after he was told to close a New York tent hospital set up by his charity Samaritan’s Purse. The Central Park tent hospital was
Former intergalactic helmsman and all-round nice guy George Takei has a genius solution to keep right-wing bigots at home: just convince them coronavirus turns you gay. Takei, 83, makes no secret of his hatred for Donald Trump, and for the past few years he’s been using his platform of 2.9 million followers to highlight the
Sandra Spagnoli, a police chief who allegedly called a lesbian “gross”, has resigned after an officer claimed he was denied a promotion because he wouldn’t sleep with her. Spagnoli, who is police chief in Beverly Hills, is set to retire on May 15, four years after she was appointed to the post. She became the
LGBT+ people are likely to be more vulnerable to coronavirus (Piero Cruciatti/AFP/Getty) State lawmakers are urging US officials to record the sexuality of coronavirus victims, as the data could be critical to the LGBT+ community’s safety amid the pandemic. The CDC currently breaks down coronavirus cases publicly by location, race, gender and age, but not
Megan Rapinoe interviewed Joe and Jill Biden. (Megan Rapinoe/ Instagram) Lesbian icon and football star Megan Rapinoe has offered to be Joe Biden’s vice president, and we’d really love to see it. Rapinoe interviewed 2020 democratic nominee Joe Biden in an Instagram live on Thursday, April 30, alongside his wife Jill who was sporting a
There have been more than a million coronavirus cases in the US and more than 60,000 deaths, with LGBT+ people disproportionately affected, but the White House gift shop is busy selling commemorative COVID-19 coins. No, really. The coin, which costs $125 to pre-order, has a graphic of coronavirus on one side and on the other
Don Lemon sighed in frustration, and Mike Pence’s excuses were “ridiculous”. (CNN/ YouTube) CNN host Don Lemon has slammed US vice president and homophobic Mike Pence for disregarding a hospital’s mask-wearing policy while meeting coronavirus patients. Pence, who is taking a break from his long career of fomenting anti-LGBT+ hatred to lead the White House efforts to tackle
Dr Rachel Levine giving a live update on the coronavirus crisis in Pennsylvania (Facebook/Pennsylvania Department of Health) Pennsylvanians have united in support of Dr Rachel Levine, the transgender secretary of health who’s leading the state through the coronavirus crisis. A graduate of Harvard College and a specialist in paediatrics and adolescent medicine, Dr Rachel Levine
Abby Stein grew up trans in an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community. (Abby Stein/ Facebook) Abby Stein, a trans woman who was destined from birth to be a rabbi, has described what it was like growing up trans in a New York ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community. Stein is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism‘s founder, The
HIV-positive former police officer Liam Pierce applied for a job with the Iberia parish sheriff’s office in New Iberia, Louisiana, in 2012. (Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor) A former police officer in Louisiana will get a $90,000 settlement after he was denied a job as a sheriff’s deputy when he revealed that he was
Donald Trump holds a rainbow flag given by a supporter during a 2016 campaign rally in Colorado. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty) Pockets of leaders around the world have used the coronavirus crisis to consolidate power and strike against vulnerable communities within their borders. Joining the governments of Poland, Britain and Hungary, whose leaders have launched attacks against
The president of a major Roman Catholic advocacy organisation has published a bizarre warning about the “mass production” of LGBT+ people in America. Bill Donohue is an anti-LGBT+ extremist who heads the Catholic League, an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organisation. His previous claims to fame include telling gay people they can’t celebrate Christmas, and stating that
Richard Grenell speaks at a press conference in January (Milos Miskov/Anadolu Agency/Getty) Donald Trump’s first openly gay cabinet member Richard Grenell wants the United States to stop sharing intelligence with countries where it’s illegal to be gay. Grenell told The New York Times that it will take more than just telling the leaders of these
When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn’t about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that
PJ McClelland, from Florida, passed away from coronavirus on April 11. (Fox News) A 37-year-old non-binary person who passed away from coronavirus this week kept a heartbreaking online journal of their experience. PJ McClelland from Florida, who died on April 11, had gained hundreds of followers as they shared their experience of having COVID-19 through
Aaron Schock, once rising star of the Republican Party, was pictured at a Mexican resort town, prompting outrage from LGBT+ community leaders. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images/ Instagram) Aaron Schock has been criticised after photos emerged which appear to show him “quarantining” with a group of men at a pastel-hued, blue skies summer