ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Church bells tolled 49 times, a giant rainbow flag hung from a county government building and the names of the victims of the Pulse nightclub attack were read aloud at various ceremonies Monday as people in Orlando and beyond remembered the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. At 2:02 a.m., … Continue reading
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Two men in Indonesia’s Aceh province were publicly caned dozens of times Tuesday for consensual gay sex, a punishment that intensifies an anti-gay backlash in the world’s most populous Muslim country and which rights advocates denounced as “medieval torture.” More than a thousand people packed the courtyard of a mosque … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow wants to protect human rights but has no reason to believe reports about the persecution of gay men in Chechnya, Russian officials said on Monday, Apr. 24. The Novaya Gazeta newspaper earlier this month reported that police in the predominantly Muslim republic rounded up more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on a compromise proposal to overturn North Carolina’s “bathroom law” (all times local): 2:45 p.m. North Carolina’s rollback of the state’s “bathroom bill” doesn’t satisfy at least one member of Bruce Springsteen’s band, which canceled a concert last year over the law that limits LGBT protections. Guitarist Steven Van … Continue reading
SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Hampton Roads region now has six police departments with liaisons to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/2k9LT9R) Suffolk is one of the latest cities to join in. The liaisons who started there in January are detectives Tiffany Whitten, who is gay, and Sean Rowan, who is … Continue reading
SEATTLE (AP) — In progressive Seattle, a presidential order that public schools give transgender students access to the bathrooms matching their gender identity won’t require a shift. While the debate has reached a fever pitch in other parts of the country, the city’s public schools have accommodated transgender students in the bathrooms and locker rooms … Continue reading
DALLAS (AP) — Texas’ lieutenant governor said Friday, May 13, that the state is prepared to forfeit billions of federal dollars in public school funding in defiance of an Obama administration directive requiring schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. The new directive is expected … Continue reading
NEW DELHI (AP) — The killing of two gay rights activists in the Bangladeshi capital has driven the country’s already secretive and small gay community underground, wondering if they can trust a government that considers their status to be criminal, rights groups said. Police detectives say they are working with evidence including a mobile phone, … Continue reading
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Several country music artists and songwriters have condemned proposed laws that critics say discriminate against LGBT people, but anyone looking for reaction from the record labels and production companies on Nashville’s Music Row has heard only the sound of silence. New laws in North Carolina and Mississippi have drawn the ire … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s governor is asking lawmakers to change part of a state law criticized for its anti-discrimination policies, but he sees no need for a wholesale repeal or reversal of its provisions on transgender bathroom access. Gov. Pat McCrory issued an executive order on Tuesday, April 12 expanding protections for many … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said Tuesday that he wants to change part of a new law that prevents people from suing over employment discrimination in state court, and he officially extended LGBT employment protections to many state workers. But McCrory’s not interested in changing the rest of the law he … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory met with gay-rights advocates bearing a letter signed by more than 100 corporate executives urging him to repeal the nation’s first state law limiting the bathroom options for transgender people. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections, and blocks municipalities … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory met with gay-rights advocates bearing a letter signed by more than 100 corporate executives urging him to repeal the nation’s first state law limiting the bathroom options for transgender people. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections, and blocks municipalities … Continue reading
BERLIN (AP) — Alaa Ammar fled Syria to escape not just civil war but also the threat of persecution as a gay man. Yet when he arrived in The Netherlands last spring, he did not find the safe haven he craved. He and four other gay travelers had to face newly arrived asylum seekers at … Continue reading
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Boxing star Manny Pacquiao said Thursday that he respects Nike’s decision to sever ties with him over his comments about gay relationships but stood pat on his opposition to same-sex marriage and added he’s happy that “a lot of people were alarmed by the truth.” The American apparel giant said Wednesday … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 