Secretary of State John Kerry later this month will appoint a special envoy within the State Department who will promote global LGBT rights. A senior State Department official on Thursday confirmed to the Washington Blade the report that first appeared in the Boston Globe. The official told the Blade the State Department is in “the final vetting
News / LGBT Guide LT
A bakery unlawfully discriminated against a gay couple, and is liable to pay up to $150,000 in damages, it was announced on Monday. Now facing a fine of up to $150,000 (£93,000), the owners of Sweet Cakes By Melissa which refused to provide a cake for a lesbian wedding may go bankrupt. The Oregon Bureau of Labor
The Irish government has launched its first resource to help primary school teachers tackle homophobic bullying. The guide, titled Respect, will be officially launched by Education minister Jan O’Sullivan this evening. It was created by the Department of Education and Skills, alongside the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation and Ireland’s Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN). The
On 2d and 3d of February, 2015 LGL organized the National Equality and Diversity Forum (NEDF) advocacy training for NEDF‘s organizations. The training was designed to increase the NEDF‘s partners‘ skills to actively represent the general objectives and priorities of the forum and it‘s public policy. The two-day training focused on advocacy and engaging in
The Labour Party has today announced that it will make Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) compulsory in all state schools, and that it plans to crack down on homophobic bullying. The announcement was made by Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt today at Little Ilford School in London. The plan, as well as making age-appropriate SRE
LGBT employees who feel unable to come out at work more likely to leave their jobs – and cost business millions. Report suggests that the UK economy could save £678m a year if businesses better implement ‘diversity and inclusion’ policies. Businesses are squandering millions replacing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees who quit after
In December 2014, the White House announced Gambia’s eligibility for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was suspended. This decision came about due to the Gambian leaders’ enactment of anti-gay policies. Though this strategic action was an important first step, more severe measures must be taken to counter attack the ongoing
As of January 1, 2015 adoption by couples in Denmark does no longer require marriage. This is a general revision of the Adoption Act. It is of particular interest to rainbow families who become pregnant by means of home insemination, i.e. not under the responsibility of a health person. In that case, if the same-sex
President Barack Obama has unveiled a new budget proposal, which includes changes to social security which would mean all couples, gay or straight, would be eligible for spousal benefits. The proposed $4 trillion budget would mean even gay couples who live outside of the 36 states which allow same-sex marriage would be allowed to receive
Over a thousand people have attended a protest against a planned ‘conscience clause’ bill, that would permit anti-gay discrimination. DUP minister Paul Givan has tabled a bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly that would effectively exempt people with ‘strongly held’ religious convictions from equality laws– allowing them to discriminate against gay people. LGBT group The Rainbow Project
Poland’s first openly transgender lawmaker reportedly plans to run for President. Anna Grodzka was elected as a Member of Parliament in Poland in 2011, in what is usually a notoriously conservative country. According to Newsweek Poland, the politician confirmed her plans to run for President later this year for the Polish Green party. She said: “Yes, I’ll
On January 29th, 2015 the national LGBT* rights association LGL received a decision by the Senior Investigator from the Vilnius Country Police Headquarters refusing to start a pre-trial investigation into the previous warning from the Lithuanian MP Algirdas Vaclovas Patackas about LGL facing a “massacre [as] in Paris”. The Senior Investigator concluded that “the Member