Gay Widower Wins Landmark Legal Battle for The Social Security Benefits of The Man He Loved For 43 Years
A US federal court has ruled that a gay widower is entitled to claim spousal benefits of his husband, who tragically died just six months after their wedding. Michael Ely and James A. Taylor had been in a relationship since 1971, when they were when 18 and 20 years old.…
Same-Sex Marriages Have Contributed $3.8 billion to The US Economy
45,000 jobs were supported by same-sex unions and they generated an additional $244 million in state and local taxes. From wedding rings to receptions, weddings aren’t cheap and there’s an entire industry just waiting to help lovebirds spend money. But how much have LGBTQ couples contributed to the spending? Same-sex…
Franklin Graham Defends Antigay Volunteer Policy by Comparing Gays to Drug Addicts
Franklin Graham is doubling down on a policy requiring volunteers at a tent hospital in New York City to sign a pledge comparing LGBTQ people to alcoholics, drug addicts and cruising adults. The moment Samaritan’s Purse set up the tent hospital in New York’s Central Park to care for people with COVID-19 it came under…
Anti-gay Republican Voted Against Coronavirus Testing Bill Because It “Redefined Family”
The House of Representatives finally passed a coronavirus relief bill this past Monday night, but one Republican refused to vote for it because he said it “redefined family” by including sick leave to care for an unmarried partner’s children. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) was talking to the SPLC designated hate…
Ex-GOP Rep. Aaron Schock Comes Out As Gay, Fails To Apologize For Anti-LGBT Voting Record
Former Republican Rep. Aaron Schock (Ill.), who voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and against expanding hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity, came out as gay in an Instagram post on Thursday, five years after resigning in disgrace over a scandal involving his…
Virginia Is First Southern State to Ban LGBTQ Conversion Therapy
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation on Monday making the use of so-called LGBTQ conversion therapy illegal on minors, with the cCommonwealth becoming the 20th state and first state in the South to ban the discredited, dangerous practice. “At the Trevor Project, we hear from LGBTQ youth in crisis every…
Pete Buttigieg Supporter Attempts to Take Back Vote After Finding Out He’s Gay
“I don’t want anybody like that in the White House.” A woman who initially voted for Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucus asked to change her vote after learning that the presidential hopeful is gay. Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, came out to the public in 2015 and…
Florida Republicans Submit 4 Anti-Gay Bills on Last Day to File
The bills would repeal LGBTQ antidiscrimination ordinances, criminalize trans health care for minors and allow conversion therapy in places that had banned it. Seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday, just hours before the deadline to file new bills for the coming legislative session. If passed, the…
The Anti-LGBTQ Extremists of Evangelicals for Trump
The Evangelicals for Trump coalition, launched at an event Friday night in Miami, is pretty much a who’s who of anti-LGBTQ extremists from the Christian right. The group’s members have called being gay “filthy” and “immoral,” equated homosexuality with pedophilia and alcoholism, and blamed LGBTQ people for natural disasters, according…
Trump Omits LGBTQ People In World AIDS Day Proclamation For Third Year In A Row
President Trump has once again omitted any recognition of LGBTQ people as among the groups primarily affected by the epidemic in his proclamation Wednesday recognizing World AIDS Day. For the third year in a row, Trump omitted any recognition of LGBTQ people even as he touted his administration’s “unprecedented initiative”…
American Medical Association Backs Nationwide Conversion Therapy Ban
The leading medical group throws its weight behind ending the discredited practice of trying to change one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The American Medical Association on Tuesday voted to support state and federal efforts to ban gay conversion therapy, throwing the weight of America’s medical establishment behind ending the…
This is How The Trump Administration Has Been Quietly Erasing LGBT Issues
Researchers have revealed that under the Trump administration LGBT+ language, data, resource pages and anti-discrimination information has been disappearing from government websites. The research was conducted by the Sunlight Foundation’s Web Integrity Project (WIP) which says its “mission is to monitor changes to government websites, holding our government accountable by revealing shifts in…