Year: 2022

Philadelphia, PA – There are stories nearly every day now from somewhere in the U.S. Schools and libraries are banning books. School boards are debating what books can be allowed in classrooms. This past week it was Mississippi, Arizona, and Tennessee. The template is Texas, where parents and others can report books that should be pulled from the shelves for content — notably LGBT+ and racial content. Some of these book banning stories are local, others are statewide, but the trend is very much national. And while much of the book banning has been in traditionally red states, suburban school […]

New York City – Lily Wakefield writes in Pink News that filmmaker and gay erotic photography pioneer James Bidgood has died aged 88 from complications related to COVID-19. According to the New York Times, Bidgood passed away on Monday, 31 January, in Manhattan, New York. Bidgood was the creator of the cult queer film Pink Narcissus, which visualizes the sexual fantasies of a gay sex worker, and he released it anonymously in 1971. He filmed the entire movie in his tiny New York City apartment over seven years, and it was only publicly revealed that he was the film’s director, […]

Washington, D.C. – Alex Bollinger reports for LGBTQ Nation that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is being sued by its past president for racial discrimination. HRC is one of the largest LGBTQ organizations in the country. It fired its president Alphonso David – the organization’s first Black leader – last September following accusations that he tried to help provide cover for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) alleged sexual harassment. David saying racial discrimination is “rife” at the LGBTQ organization. “HRC underpaid David, and then terminated him, because he is Black,” his complaint states. The lawsuit was filed in a […]

Philadelphia, PA – Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. two Texas and seven other schools, have earned the dubious distinction of making the Foundation of Individual Rights in Education’s list of “10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech,” which FIRE released on February 2. Collin College in McKinney earned its spot on FIRE’s 10 Worst list by dumping four professors who dared criticize college administration. Professor Lora Burnett recently won her First Amendment lawsuit against the school after Collin College refused to renew her contract. And award-winning Professor Michael Phillips was notified in January that his contract would not be renewed. According […]

New York City – The board of directors of the GLSEN, the national nonprofit organization working to make sure K-12 education is safe and affirming for all students including LGBTQ youth, announced January 26 that Melanie Willingham-Jaggers has been named the new executive director for the organization, the first black and nonbinary person to hold the position. Willingham-Jaggers said their vision for the next chapter of GLSEN’s work is “rooted in the belief that education can and should be an experience that is safe, affirming and liberating — and that we can achieve that goal only when we build in […]

Paris, France – The French National Assembly banned conversion therapy on January 25. The new law not only forbids the practice but establishes criminal and civil penalties for so-called therapists who claim to “cure” homosexuality or gender nonconformity. Conversion therapists are now liable to prison terms of up to two years and fines of 30,000 euros ($34,000). The punishment can increase to three years imprisonment and fines of 45,000 euros ($50,000) for cases involving minors or other particularly vulnerable people. The law also allows victims of conversion therapy to file civil suits seeking monetary damages, and authorizes activists to file […]