Know Hope Records is contributing proceeds from the sale of its “Solidarity in Sound: A Compilation to Benefit the ACLU” recording. The album contains songs from 22 different artists/bands, including almost all of the KHR roster, as well as many friends. It will be released exclusively on the Know Hope Records Bandcamp page for “Pay-What-You-Want,” and 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the ACLU. Many of the songs are either brand new or previously unreleased.
info: knowhoperecords.com.
“Love the Sinner” will have its world premiere during the Tribeca Film Festival with screenings from April 20-29. It is a personal documentary essay exploring the connection between Christianity and homophobia in the wake of the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
info: bit.ly/2mZyuXQ.
International model Andreja Pejic has landed a double cover of GQ Portugal April issue, making history as the first transgender model to cover the men’s magazine.
info: gqportugal.pt.
InterPride has announced a partnership with Champagne Love & Bubbles for its member organizations.
info: interpride.org.
“Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for Gay and Transgender Justice” collaborated with Morgan State University on April 4, to host Maryland’s first-ever screening of a film about black transgender activism at a historically black university in the state.
info: manyvoices.org.
CipherHealth has introduced its Orchid digital rounding solution to make hospital stays for LGBTQ patients more inclusive by asking questions tailored to them. This is especially useful when it comes to transgender individuals who are engaged in gender reassignment surgery.
info: cipherhealth.com.
The National Diversity Council will hold its “Multigenerational Diversity: Managing Different Generations for Maximum Impact” webinar on May 2 at 12 p.m.
info: nationaldiversitycouncil.org.
A new study conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of GLAAD revealed that 20 percent of Millennials identify at LGBTQ individuals.
info: glaad.org.
Five non-profits received the Renewal Award from The Atlantic and Allstate for their work in driving positive change in underserved communities. Recipients had a shared mission, which is to meet the needs of underserved communities, including LGBTQ homeless youth, incarcerated women and their families, neighborhoods ravaged by violence and at-risk young men and women. Each received $20,000 in grants.
info: therenewalproject.com.
The Gay Christian Network has announced its inaugural Parents’ Retreat, slated for May 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio. It is accepting registrations.
info: gaychristian.net.
The IRGT: A Global Network of Trans Women and HIV is seeking interested parties from transgender-identified individuals to become technical advisors for a new program called Trans Education + Action = Capacity for Health (TEACH).
info: ow.ly/BJPZ30a7SCu.
San Jose State University researchers are seeking southern participants for its study on marriage equality, the recent U.S. election and other policies that affect queer women’s health and well-being. Additional study information can be found at bit.ly/2nXvrie.
info: bit.ly/2mZAiQt.
Singer-songwriter Troye Sivan became the youngest recipient of the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards held on April 1. Also recognized at the event was actress and advocate Patricia Arquette who received the Vanguard Award. Her transgender sister Alexis Arquette was also remembered during the awards presentation.
info: glaad.org.
The “LGBT Exclusion in Indonesia and Its Economic Effects” study showed that discrimination against LGBTQ Indonesians in workplaces, schools and social opportunities is pervasive and will limit their ability to fully contribute to the Indonesian economy.
info: williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu.
Transgender and gender non-conforming individuals responding to apartment ads in Greater Boston, Mass. were more likely to be quoted a higher rental price, were shown fewer apartment amenities such as storage or laundry and were less apt to be offered a financial incentive to rent, according to a study conducted by Suffolk University Law School’s Housing Discrimination Testing Program.
info: suffolk.edu.
For the first time in its history, Miami Beach Gay Pride, held from April 7-9, will honor four individuals who have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ community. Television personality Ross Mathews will serve as Celebrity Grand Marshal; bartender and cast member of iHeart Radio’s “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show,” “Uncle” Johnny Pool, will serve as the Advocate Marshal; and advocates Liebe and Seth Gadinsky will serve as Ally Marshals.
info: miamibeachgaypride.com.
African-Americans in the LGBTQ community received awards at the third annual Truth Awards Gala on March 11 in Los Angeles, Calif., which honored “trailblazing men and women whose personal and professional accomplishments have positively impacted the perception and image of the Black LGBTQ community.” Recipients were: executive producer of KTLA-TV Marcus Wilson-Smith, transgender model Tracey “Africa” Norman; actress Loretta Devine, makeup artist Sam Fine, financial services CEO Malcolm Harris and insurance industry leader Mya Dobson.
info: betterbrothersla.com.
GLMA has put out a final call for abstracts for its 35th Annual Conference on LGBT Health, “From Resistance to Resilience: Filling the Gaps in LGBT Healthcare and Research,” in September 2017 in Philadelphia, Pa. Deadline is April 14.
info: glma.org.
MSMGF and CLAC’s “Executive Summary on Community Engagement in Global Fund Processes” is now available in French, Arabic, Russian and Spanish.
info: msmgf.org.
The National LGBTQ Task Force, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists have launched a Spanish-language stylebook for journalists reporting on LGBTQ individuals. It is available online at bit.ly/2mZFYtS.
info: thetaskforce.org. nlgja.org. nahj.org.
The Human Rights Campaign announced that its “2018 Corporate Equality Index” surveys are opening soon.
info: hrg.org.
A new University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing study has found that emotion regulation is an important link to HIV/STI prevention in African-American adolescents with mental illnesses.
info: nursing.upenn.edu.
According to a recent article in The Advocate, “Transgender women [in the U.S.] are over four times more likely to be murdered than the general population of all women, and 2017 is on track to be the most deadly year for transgender women, particularly those who are African-American.”
info: advocate.com.
Nearly 600 researchers and healthcare providers have signed a statement rejecting a 2016 article by psychiatrist Paul McHugh and epidemiologist Lawrence Mayer that reinforced dangerous, unsupported anti-LGBTQ myths.
info: hrc.org.
Texas A&M University has elected its first openly gay student body president, Campus Pride shared. U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, an alumni of the university, criticized this news saying that the victory was “stolen.”
info: campuspride.org.
Dr. Tyrel Starks, an assistant professor of psychology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and faculty affiliate of the Hunter College Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training, has been awarded a three-year grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, totaling $666,900, to develop a couples-based drug use intervention for gay male couples.
info: chestnyc.org.
OutRight Action International reported that an anti-LGBTQ hate bus, FreeSpeechBus, took to the road across the U.S. The organizers behind the bus include the International Organization for the Family, labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the notoriously anti-LGBTIQ group National Organization for Marriage. The bright orange bus is covered in the message, “It’s Biology: Boys are boys…and always will be. Girls are girls…and always will be. You can’t change sex. Respect all.”
info: outrightinternational.org.
Nearly 80 registered nurses of Vibra Hospital of Western Massachusetts, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, voted to ratify a new union contract that adds workplace violence and gender identity protections and increases wages to help boost nurse recruitment and retention.
info: massnurses.org.
Davler Media Group has acquired Metrosource, the largest circulation LGBTQ publication serving New York City and Los Angeles, and second largest nationally, reported its CEO David L. Miller.
info: davlermedia.com.
On March 20, the newly inaugurated Carlos Jáuregui subway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina opened, Newlink reported. Previously referred to as the “Santa Fe” stop on the H line, the opening represents a landmark step forward for the LGBTQ community in Argentina, and worldwide, as it is the first station in the world to be named after an LGBTQ activist or AIDS advocate. Carlos Jáuregui was an outspoken defender of human and LGBT rights and was the first president of the Argentine Homosexual Community.
info: newlink-group.com.
LGBTQ soccer team Zorros Mexico is raising funds for their team to be able to compete in World OutGames Miami! The players, most of whom are students with minimal financial support, hope to inspire others by playing as the youngest soccer team entered in OutGames history.
info: outgames.org.
Reconciling Ministries Network has invited communities to support Bishop Karen Oliveto with the #NoSuchLaw campaign in her quest to being the United Methodist Church’s first open lesbian bishop. On April 25-28, the church’s judicial council will review a number of cases related to LGBTQ individuals in light of the church’s current discriminatory language toward them.
info: rmnetwork.org.
With over 100 anti-LGBTQ bills on the table across the U.S. in a number of states, Spirit Finder has assembled information and outreach to help combat negative attitudes toward the LGBTQ community and create positive support for it. Topics include fostering pride in communities, LGBTQ-friendly cities, creating peace of mind and more.
info: spiritfinder.org.
An article has been published on Studio One’s troubled past at Hollywood LAist.
info: laist.com.
Matthew Christiansen has won an appeal that said that he could sue his employer for sexual harassment while on the job.
info: slate.com.
A bill that would modernize California’s laws that criminalize and stigmatize people living with HIV today cleared its first major legislative hurdle.
info: eqca.org.
The Victory Institute has reported that a number of LGBTQ candidates are running for office. Some include Chris Constant and Felix Rivera who are running for the Anchorage Assembly in Alaska, along with Cathy Woolard, a hopeful to win the mayoral race and make history as Atlanta’s first LGBTQ mayor, and Alex Wan to win the city council presidency in Atlanta, Ga. In addition, Victory reported that Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski has joined 33 other mayors in a brief opposing the Trump Administration’s sanctuary city policies; Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has vowed to work with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to fight Trump’s weakened environmental laws; openly gay Florida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith has spoken out against religious expression legislation; Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill requiring that contractors and the federal government to “buy American” for certain infrastructural projects; and Ohio’s out Rep. Nickie Antonio introduced legislation to prohibit housing and employment LGBTQ discrimination. Members of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus relaunched the Transgender Task Force to bring attention to the rise of violence against trans individuals.
info: victoryfund.org.
For the first-time ever, Rufus Wainwright will host “Wainwright Libre,” a fan experience in Havana, Cuba from Sept. 21-25.
info: rufusinhavana.com.
A community-driven, community-funded effort has been mounted to re-design San Francisco, Calif.’s Harvey Milk Plaza as an LGBT civil rights memorial.
info: friendsofharveymilkplaza.org.
Frankly Inc. has partnered with Canada’s LGBTQ OUTtv network to support and manage its new over-the-top video subscription offering, OUTtvGo.
info: franklyinc.com.
Transgender singer Rizi Xavier Timane has released a single aimed at the Trump Administration that has gone viral. The artist said that bullying and distractions are taking the nation’s eyes off of what is happening. This includes immigration rights and alienation of a vast number of demographics across the nation. Timane expressed the need for love of neighbors as oneself as depicted in biblical references.
info: successinmedia.com.
Equality Florida announced that it was partnering with Our Fund Foundation’s Contigo Fund to expand its LGBTQ Safe & Health Schools Project programming.
info: eqfl.org.
The Open Society Foundations announced the recipients of the Soros Equality Fellowship, a new initiative to help emerging mid-career professionals become long-term innovative leaders in the field of racial justice.
info: opensocietyfoundations.org.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker John Scagliotti is returning to the scene of a crime after 42 years with his latest documentary “Before Homosexuals: The Prequel to Before Stonewall” for a world premiere at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on April 8. He was news director at Boston’s WBCN in 1975 when he was arrested by the vice squad and charged with “soliciting to commit unnatural and lascivious acts.”
info: beforehomosexuals.com.
A former teen mother and author Audrey Lupisella has published “Impartial,” which teaches about an all-inclusive God.
info: bookstore.westbowpress.com.
Hate group Center for Family and Human Rights violated federal ethics laws by using its place on the official U.S. delegation to the annual United Nations women’s rights meeting, Commission on the Status of Women, to fundraise for itself. OutRight Action International called for the hate group’s removal from the delegation.
info: outrightinternational.org.
A multitude of organizations and other groups decried the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States when it vacated an appeals court ruling which favored Virginia transgender student Gavin Grimm on anti-discrimination issues surrounding bathroom usage at school. Those include: Metropolitan Community Churches, GLSEN, cast and crew of Amazon’s “Transparent,” Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, South Carolina’s We Are Family, Equality California, National Education Association, National LGBTQ Task Force, American Civil Liberties Union, among others.
info: aclu.org.
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund has joined with several LGBT advocacy organizations in support of a transgender woman who is suing the State of New Jersey for its discriminatory policy which requires transgender people to prove they have had surgery before they are allowed to correct the sex designation on their birth certificates. Also, Dr. Rachel Tudoran, an English professor who was terminated from her teaching position on the basis of her sex, may now proceed with her Title VII employment discrimination case in Oklahoma.
info: transgenderlegal.org.