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☆ White House criticizes GOP over funding provision that effectively bans Pride flags over US embassies
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Sam Fossum | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The White House on Sunday attacked congressional Republicans for pushing a provision in the government funding bill that limits which flags can be flown above US embassies, effectively banning LGBTQ flags. “President Biden believes it was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement. “The flag provision would continue to allow pride flags to be present in almost all cases at embassies, except flown *over* the exterior of the building. While the State Department under Donald Trump rejected requests from embassies to raise the Pride flag, Secretary of State Antony Blinken authorized US diplomatic missions to raise the flag above embassies and consulates across the world in 2021. Many US embassies fly the Pride flag during the month of June, which is recognized as Pride Month in the United States and other countries.

Persons: Biden, ”, Brandon Wolf, Wolf, Mike Johnson, “, Donald Trump, Antony Blinken Organizations: CNN, Sunday, “, Bloomberg, Foreign Service, Rights, Republican, Republicans, State Department, Pride Locations: workspaces, United States

☆ A federal judge says Florida's new anti-drag law threatens free speech and can't be enforced, at least for now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A federal judge is blocking enforcement of Florida's new law on drag shows. The judge ruled the language is overly vague and threatens free speech. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill, SB 1438, that he said was designed to protect children from sexually explicit drag shows. The drag law, by contrast, "is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers," Presnell wrote, pointing to a bill sponsor's claim that the law would put an end to "Drag Queen Story Time," which entails no sexually explicit content. Presnell's ruling marks the third time this month that a judge has struck down portions of DeSantis' anti-LGBTQ agenda.

Persons: —, Ron DeSantis, Judge Gregory A, Presnell, Bill Clinton, DeSantis, Jeremy Redfern, Brandon Wolf, Walt, Robert Hinkle, Clinton, Nikki Fried Organizations: Service, Florida, Florida Gov, Court, Middle, Department of Business, Miami Herald, Walt Disney World, Democratic Party of Locations: Florida, Orlando, Hamburger, Middle District, Democratic Party of Florida

☆ Florida education board to vote on extending ban on gender identity lessons
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Hillsborough High School students protest a Republican-backed bill dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" that would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, a measure Democrats denounced as being anti-LGBTQ, in Tampa, Florida, U.S., March 3, 2022. The state board of education, whose members are appointed by the governor, will vote on the proposal at a meeting on Wednesday, according to the agenda. Critics, including LGBTQ advocates and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, have termed it the "Don't Say Gay" law and said it marginalizes LGBTQ students. Brandon Wolf, a spokesperson for Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said DeSantis is targeting LGBTQ students to boost his national political fortunes. A spokesperson for DeSantis referred questions to the state department of education.

☆ A drag queen who survived the Orlando Pulse shooting says Florida's LGBTQ community is 'scared' of further hate following DeSantis' push to revoke a hotel's liquor license
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Lloyd Lee | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A drag queen who survived the 2016 Pulse club shooting said it only further demonizes LGBTQ people. "Not just in terms of limiting opportunities for drag entertainers, but by demonizing the art of drag as a whole," she wrote. Fine told Insider his motivation for pursuing the bill came after he found out a drag queen show was hosted in a public space in his district last year. However, the representative also said he would not support a bill that eliminates drag shows for consenting adults. In Florida, there have been at least nine demonstrations against the LGBTQ community, the organization found.

☆ With over 100 anti-LGBTQ bills before state legislatures in 2023 so far, activists say they're 'fired up'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

So far, Texas has taken the lead with 36 such bills, according to Equality Texas, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group. Four states — Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Arizona — have enacted restrictions on gender-affirming medical care for minors, though federal judges have blocked them from taking effect in Arkansas and Alabama. State Sen. David Bullard, the Republican sponsoring the bill, told The Oklahoman that gender-affirming medical care is a “permanent change in your body that cannot be reversed. Accredited medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — have supported gender-affirming care for minors. Advocates and doctors who treat trans youth have said many of the health care restrictions proposed by state legislators mischaracterize what gender-affirming care is.

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Survivors of mass shootings targeting U.S. LGBT nightclubs detailed the violence they endured and criticized inflammatory political rhetoric in a congressional hearing on Wednesday. "We are being slaughtered and dehumanized across this country, in communities you took oaths to protect," said Matthew Haynes, owner of the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where five people were killed and 22 wounded in a mass shooting last month. Michael Anderson told lawmakers he was bartending at Club Q, when the gunman entered the nightclub and began shooting. There have been 628 mass shootings across the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Brandon Wolf, an activist and survivor of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in which 49 people were killed and 69 wounded, told the hearing.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Tuesday to codify federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages in a ceremony at the White House. Biden also quoted directly from a 2012 interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press" in which he came out in public support of same-sex marriage ahead of then-President Barack Obama. The legislation Biden signed was drafted by a bipartisan group led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the first openly gay person elected to the Senate. President Joe Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. The amendment included language saying that religious organizations would not be required to perform same-sex marriages and that the federal government would not be required to protect polygamous marriages.

☆ House Oversight Committee to host Club Q shooting survivors in hearing on anti-LGBTQ threats
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Ali-Vitali-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Ali Vitali | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Less than a month after a deadly shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, the House Oversight Committee will host survivors for a hearing on violence and threats against LGBTQ people, NBC News has learned. The Dec. 14 hearing will include testimony from bartender Michael Anderson and from James Slaugh, both of whom survived the Club Q shooting, as well as the club’s founding partner and co-owner Matthew Haynes, the committee told NBC News. The panel will also hear from Brandon Wolf, who survived the 2016 shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, where a gunman killed 49 people. In November, a gunman opened fire at Club Q with a semiautomatic rifle, killing five people and injuring 17 others. “These attacks, like the one at Club Q, are designed to scare us from living authentically and honestly," he said.

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