LGBTQ people

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's desk. The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Tennessee GOP-led Senate spikes bill seeking to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags in schools

A bill designed to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags in Tennessee public school classrooms has been spiked after failing to attract enough support in the GOP-controlled Senate.

FILE - Benjamin Franklin High playwriting class students hold hands as they perform their play "The Capitol Project" on the steps of the Louisiana Capitol in Baton Rouge, La., March 27, 2024. Unlike recent years when there was an LGBTQ+ ally in the Louisiana governor's office, nothing stands in the way this year of legislation hostile to transgender people. Democratic former Gov. John Bel Edwards was able to block most such legislation in previous years through vetoes. Now conservative Republican Jeff Landry is in the governor's chair, and the legislation is advancing rapidly. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Transgender Louisianans lost their ally in the governor’s seat. Now they’re girding for a fight

The Rev. Tracy Cox of First United Methodist Church and members of her congregation pray for Tracy Merrick, who will attend the United Methodist General Conference as a delegate representing Western Pennsylvania, as well as Anais Hussian and Joshua Popson who will also be in attendance, Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Hussian is a reserve delegate and Popson will be advocating for LGBTQ inclusion with the Love Your Neighbor Coalition. Many, including Rev. Cox, hope that this is the year they change longstanding bans on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

United Methodists open first top-level conference since breakup over LGBTQ inclusion

Brazilian artist Manauara Clandestina poses in front of the main entrance of the main pavilion at the 60th Biennale of Arts exhibition in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition opens Saturday for its six-month run through Nov. 26. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Venice Biennale titled ‘Foreigners Everywhere’ platforms LGBTQ+, outsider and Indigenous artists

FILE - Former first lady Melania Trump arrives for GOP fundraiser, April 6, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. Melania Trump is making a political comeback during the presidential campaign of her husband, former President Donald Trump. In a closed-press event, Melania Trump will appear at the Log Cabin Republicans event Saturday in Mar-a-Lago, the home she lives in with her husband in Palm Beach.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Melania Trump is set to make a return to her husband’s campaign with a rare political appearance

Transgender Louisianans lost their ally in the governor’s seat. Now they’re girding for a fight.

Last year there was an LGBTQ+ ally in the Louisiana governor’s office. Now, there is nothing standing in the way of this year’s legislation hostile to transgender people.

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Progressive delegates hope to overturn LGBTQ bans at United Methodist General Conference

German parliament approves law that makes it easier for people to change their name, gender

Transgender German man reflects on his transition ahead of parliament debate on easing gender change

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Alabama lawmakers advance expansion of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ and ban Pride flags at schools

Alabama lawmakers have advanced legislation to ban teacher-led discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms through eighth grade.

Dominica joins other Caribbean islands in striking down laws prohibiting gay sex

A top court in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica has struck down colonial-era laws criminalizing gay sex.

FILE - Demonstrators advocating for transgender rights and healthcare stand outside of the Ohio Statehouse on Jan. 24, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under rules finalized Friday, April19, 2024, by the Biden administration. Notably absent from Biden’s policy, however, is any mention of transgender athletes. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos, File)

Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but avoid addressing transgender athletes

The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under new rules from the Biden administration.

Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, talks a bill brought to the House floor by Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, that would require parents are notified of a student's gender identity or intention to transition to a gender different from the person's sex at birth Monday, April 15, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Tennessee schools would have to out transgender students to parents under bill heading to governor

Tennessee would join the ranks of states where public school employees have to out transgender students to their parents under a bill advancing in the Republican-supermajority Legislature.

United Methodist church members march, sing and dance in Jalingo, Nigeria, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Methodism in the country, on December 2023. Despite the celebration, church leaders in Nigeria are considering leaving the United Methodist Church over differences on ordination of LGBTQ people and same-sex marriage. (Ezekiel Ibrahim Maisamari/UM News via AP)

As a landmark United Methodist gathering approaches, African churches weigh their future

The United Methodist Church lost one-fourth of its U.S. churches in a recent schism, with conservatives departing over disputes on sexuality and theology.

First lady Jill Biden speaks before previewing the food and decorations at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, for the State Dinner for Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Jill Biden calls Trump a ‘bully’ who is ‘dangerous’ to LGBTQ people

Jill Biden says former Republican President Donald Trump is a “bully” who is “dangerous” for the LGBTQ community.

FILE - A money changer counts Nigerian naira currency at a bureau de change, in Lagos, Nigeria, on Oct. 20, 2015. A local court in Nigeria has handed a six-month imprisonment to a popular transgender woman after convicting her of throwing money into the air. Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, better known as Bobrisky, was sentenced Friday without the option of a fine in a rare conviction that was criticized by many in the West African nation, a deeply conservative country where openly identifying as a transgender person is also criminalized. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)

A Nigerian transgender celebrity is jailed for throwing money into the air, a rare conviction

A local court in Nigeria has handed a six-month sentence to a popular transgender woman after convicting her of throwing money into the air at a social event.

FILE - The Louisiana Capitol is seen, April 4, 2023, in Baton Rouge, La. Legislation in Louisiana, that would gradually increase the $7.25 an hour minimum wage and a measure that would make discriminating against LGBTQ people in the workforce illegal, failed in a House committee Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith, File)

Louisiana lawmakers reject minimum wage raise and protections for LGBTQ+ people in the workplace

Proposals to gradually raise Louisiana’s $7.25-an-hour minimum wage and make discriminating against LGBTQ people in the workforce illegal have failed in a state House committee.

FILE - The Louisiana Capitol stands, April 4, 2023, in Baton Rouge, La. A bill that that would effectively bar transgender people in Louisiana from using restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping quarters that correspond with their gender identity, in public schools, jails and domestic violence shelters, advanced out of a state legislative committee Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith, File)

Louisiana lawmakers quietly advance two controversial bills as severe weather hits the state

While state offices and schools were closed across Louisiana because of severe storms, a GOP-controlled legislative committee gathered in the Capitol to debate controversial bills that opponents say target the LGBTQ+ community.

FILE - The rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, flies over a building next to Nelson's Column monument, right, in Trafalgar Square, central London, Britain, March 28, 2014. Children who question their gender identity are being let down by lack of evidence and a toxic political debate, according to a report Wednesday from a senior doctor in in England. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

A major UK report says trans children are being let down by toxic debate and lack of evidence

A report from a senior doctor in England says children who question their gender identity are being let down by lack of evidence and a toxic political debate. Dr.

Korbin Albert del Paris Saint-Germain tras marcar un gol ante BK Hacken en los cuartos de final de la Liga de Campeones femenina, el jueves 28 de marzo de 2024, en París. (AP Foto/Thibault Camus)

US women’s players association issues statement in support of LGBTQ rights

The U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association issued a statement Tuesday in support of LGBTQ rights in the wake of a controversy over midfielder Korbin Albert’s social media posts.

FILE - The Louisiana Capitol stands, April 4, 2023, in Baton Rouge, La. A bill that that would effectively bar transgender people in Louisiana from using restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping quarters that correspond with their gender identity, in public schools, jails and domestic violence shelters, advanced out of a state legislative committee Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith, File)

Louisiana’s transgender ‘bathroom bill’ clears first hurdle

Louisiana lawmakers have advanced a bill that would effectively bar transgender people from using restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping quarters — in public schools, jails and domestic violence shelters — that correspond with their gender identity.

Tis 2022 photo shows a self-portrait of Maxwell Kuzma, a transgender man working as a film editor and writer living outside of Columbus in rural Ohio. Kuzma expressed dismay at a Vatican document issued Monday, April 8, 2024, that rejected the idea that one’s biological sex can change. (Maxwell Kuzma via AP)

Transgender Catholics say new Vatican document shows no understanding of their lives

Transgender Catholics are voicing disappointment with a new Vatican document rejecting the fundamental concept of changing one’s biological sex.

President Russell M. Nelson gestures during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conference Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Latter-day Saints leader addresses congregants without a word on racial or LGBTQ+ issues

The oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has so far created a mixed legacy.

United States' Lindsey Horan (10) celebrates her goal against Japan during the second half in a SheBelieves Cup women’s soccer game, Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Atlanta. The United States won 2-1. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Lindsey Horan’s penalty kick gives US a 2-1 win over Japan in SheBelieves Cup

Lindsey Horan converted a penalty kick in the 77th minute and the United States defeated Japan 2-1 to open the SheBelieves Cup before a record crowd.

Protesters hold signs outside the doors of the legislative chamber in the Nebraska State Capitol in response to a bill that would have restricted students to bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth, on Friday, April 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. The bill failed to advance Friday. (AP Photo/Margery Beck)

A Nebraska bill to ban transgender students from the bathrooms and sports of their choice fails

A Nebraska bill that would bar transgender students from bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that correspond with their gender identity has failed.

FILE - Visitors stand on the west steps of the Colorado Capitol, April 23, 2023, in Denver. Children in foster care who are LGBTQ+ in Colorado and Tennessee could have vastly different experiences in where they get placed under opposing legislation advanced by state legislatures this week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

LGBTQ+ foster youths could expect different experiences as Tennessee and Colorado pass opposing laws

The Tennessee and Colorado legislatures have passed bills that would have vastly different impacts on LGBTQ+ foster children.

Nicholas Opiyo, Petitioner and Human rights advocate, speaks to journalists outside the Constitutional Court in Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, after Uganda's Constitutional Court gave its seal of approval on the anti-homosexuality law, declaring that the Anti Homosexuality Act of 2023 complies with the Constitution of Uganda. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda )

Gay rights activists call for more international pressure on Uganda over anti-gay law

Ugandan gay rights activists asked the international community to mount more pressure on the government of Uganda to repeal an anti-gay law which the country’s Constitutional Court refused to nullify on Wednesday.

FILE - The Idaho state flag hangs in the State Capitol in Boise, Idaho, Jan. 9, 2023. Idaho lawmakers have passed a series of bills targeting LGBTQ+ residents this year, including two this week that prevent public employees from being required to use someone's preferred pronouns and redefine "gender" as being synonymous with sex. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)

Idaho lawmakers pass bills targeting LGBTQ+ citizens. Protesters toss paper hearts in protest

Idaho lawmakers have passed a series of bills targeting LGBTQ+ residents this year, including two this week that redefine gender as being synonymous with sex and prevent public employees from being required to use someone’s preferred pronouns.

FILE - J.K. Rowling poses for photographers upon her arrival at the premiere of the film 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald', in London, Nov. 13, 2018. Police say J.K. Rowling didn't break the law with tweets criticizing Scotland’s new hate speech law and referring to transgender women as men. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

Police say JK Rowling committed no crime with tweets slamming Scotland’s new hate speech law

Police say J.K. Rowling didn’t break the law with tweets criticizing Scotland’s new hate speech law and referring to transgender women as men.

Benjamin Franklin High playwriting class students perform their play "The Capitol Project" on the steps of the Louisiana Capitol in Baton Rouge, La., Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

First they tried protests of anti-gay bills. Then students put on a play at Louisiana’s Capitol

A group of students from a New Orleans high school staged a play they developed on the steps of Louisiana’s Capitol to protest a series of anti-LGBTQ+ legislative proposals.

Rev. Elaine Saralegui, wearing a rainbow-colored clergy stole and her clerical collar, leads a service at the Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBTQ+ inclusive house of worship, in Matanzas, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In recent years, the communist-run island barred anti-gay discrimination, and a 2022 government-backed “family law” — approved by popular vote — allowed same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

An LGBTQ-inclusive church welcomes all in a country that once sent gay people to labor camps

After the 1959 revolution, Cuba repressed gay people and many were sent to labor camps. But the communist-run island has made strides in recent years when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights.

Antonina Favorskaya stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 29, 2024. A court in Moscow makes a decision on measure of restrain to journalist Antonina Favorskaya in the case of her connection with the FBK, the Anti-Corruption Foundation set up by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2011 and declared extremist and closed in 2021. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

A Russian journalist who covered Navalny’s trials is jailed in Moscow on charges of extremism

A Moscow court has ordered a Russian journalist who covered the trials of late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and other dissidents to remain in custody pending an investigation and trial on charges of extremism.

FILE - A Russian soldier secures an area as a massive blaze can be seen over a concert venue on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. The attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed over 140 people marked a major failure of Russian security agencies. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov, File)

The Moscow concert massacre was a major security blunder. What’s behind that failure?

The Moscow concert hall attack a week ago that left more than 140 people dead was a major blunder for Russia’s law enforcement agencies.

PSG's Korbin Albert celebrates after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League quarterfinals, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and BK Hacken at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

U.S. midfielder Korbin Albert apologizes for sharing ‘insensitive and hurtful’ social media posts

U.S. women’s national team midfielder Korbin Albert has apologized for having liked and shared social media posts that she described as “offensive, insensitive and hurtful.”

FILE - Participants hold a rainbow flag during a Pride Parade in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 4, 2023. Lawmakers in Thailand's lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Lawmakers in Thailand overwhelmingly approve a bill to legalize same-sex marriage

Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of Parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.

Members of the Long Island Roller Rebels, practice, Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2023, at United Skates of America in Seaford, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

After a county restricted transgender women in sports, a roller derby league said, ‘No way’

A women’s roller derby league in suburban New York has thrust itself into the national discussion over the rights of transgender athletes.

Chicago Blackhawks' Jason Dickinson (16) celebrates with fans after scoring a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Jason Dickinson scores twice as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1

Jason Dickinson scored twice, Petr Mrazek made 40 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1.

The relative of a victim embraces a person after the reading of the verdict for former police officers on trial for crimes against humanity during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, in La Plata, Argentina, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The officers were convicted on Tuesday of torturing over 20 pregnant women and stealing at least 10 babies, seven of which have been identified and recovered. Hundreds of babies were abducted during the Argentine dictatorship. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

In first, an Argentine court convicts ex-officers of crimes against trans women during dictatorship

Judges overseeing a high-profile human rights trial in Argentina have convicted 11 former officials of crimes against humanity.

Police K-9s patrol around the cordoned off 100 block of Queen Street in Lancaster, Pa., Saturday, March 23, 2024. A "Drag Queen Story Hour," at the Lancaster Public Library was canceled after police responded to a suspicious package. (Amber Ritson/LNP/LancasterOnline via AP)

Drag story hour at library canceled after suspicious package and threats, authorities say

Authorities say a “Drag Queen Story Hour” at a Pennsylvania library has been canceled after a suspicious package was found in the building.