LGBT Rights

ALERT: A slate of 8 anti-#LGBTQ bills have been filed in the #flleg — including an attack on trans youth.This is the most overtly anti-LGBTQ agenda by the legislature in recent memory: https://t.co/1J22xZYXBN #flapol pic.twitter.com/mSBoz7TiqY— Equality Florida (@equalityfl) January 14, 2020 Perhaps emboldened by President Donald Trump, Republican state lawmakers in Florida have unleashed a hateful barrage of anti-LGBTQ legislation as the 2020 session gets under way in Tallahassee. NBC News reports: “Seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday, just hours before the deadline to file new...

The United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, has announced a plan to split over LGBT+ rights. At the United Methodist Church general conference in February 2019, about 53 percent of delegates to the conference voted in favour of what members call the “Traditional Plan”. The anti-LGBT plan reinforced church doctrine prohibiting same-sex marriage and the ordination of queer clergy, and also strengthened penalties for clergy who perform same-sex weddings, declaring that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching”. But many members of the...

A top UN official has said that the last decade has seen a “backlash” for human rights, with LGBT+ people and women especially affected. Andrew Gilmour, who is the outgoing assistant secretary-general for human rights, told the Associated Press that the regressions seen in the 2010s did not equal the advances made in the 1970s, but that the situation was serious. Gilmour said that LGBT+ rights were at risk because of authoritarian leaders who make “derogatory” comments about gender and sexuality, specifically mentioning Russian president Vladimir Putin, Turkish president Recep...

Boris Johnson has passed his Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB), paving the way for the UK to Brexit on January 31, 2020. But what does it all mean for LGBT+ rights? MPs voted the bill through on its second reading by 358 to 234, a majority of 124. This means that the WAB will now move to a committee stage, where it will be scrutinised further. It must also pass through the House of Lords, but it is widely expected to be made law in time for the current Brexit deadline...