California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill on Oct. 13 that requires that certain state employment and education agencies collect demographic data about LGBTQ people whenever they collect data about other demographic groups. He also signed a bill that creates a “bill of rights” for LGBTQ seniors in long-term care, giving protections to seniors as it relates to discrimination or mistreatment and landmark legislation to reform outdated laws that unfairly criminalized and stigmatized people living with HIV.
info: eqca.org.
The Wisconsin Gazette reported that the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church would picket the funeral of Sgt. Donna Johnson, a lesbian who was killed in action in Afghanistan.
info: wisconsingazette.com.
A selection of 300 out of the 1,000 plus liturgical stoles and other sacred materials in the collection of the Shower of Stoles was on exhibit at All Saints’ Episcopal Church during Atlanta Pride held earlier in the month. The collection honors defrocked LGBTQ clergy and their stories, The Georgia Voice reported.
info: thegavoice.com.
The Second Annual TransNation Festival’s Eleganza will be held on Oct. 21 in Los Angeles, Calif. and will honor the following: Sustaining Vanguard Award recipient Caitlyn Jenner Foundation and Marsha P. Johnson Trailblazer recipient Jazzmun Crayton. It also features presenter Laverne Cox, hosts Candis Cayne and Laith Ashley. Proceeds from the festival and affair will benefit St. John’s Well Child and Family Center’s Transgender Health Program.
info: transnationfestival.org.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD, two leading groups fighting the Trump administration’s transgender military ban in court, praised the bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives who introduced a bill that would block the Trump’s ban on transgender servicemembers in the military.
info: nclrights.org. glad.org.
The Ferro-Grumley Awards for LGBTQ Fiction announced that it was accepting nominations from nearly 1,000 publishers of their LGBTQ titles published in the calendar year 2017. Over the next five months, a panel of judges will consider a plethora of books to distill a short list of finalists from which the winner will be selected. The presentation will be made at the Triangle Awards in the spring. The recipient will receive $1,000, in addition to an all-expenses-paid summer residency at Art Workshop International, in Assisi, Italy.
info: bit.ly/2yltAqz. publishingtriangle.org.
The United Nations human rights office on Oct. 13 expressed concern about a wave of arrests in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia of more than 180 people perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, many of whom have reportedly been mistreated by law enforcement officials.
info: un.org/news.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” alumni Phi Phi O’Hara and 27 other queens are holding a fundraising effort for Puerto Rico on Nov. 6 in Minneapolis, Minn. Set to perform at Queens United: A Drag Show for Puerto Rico are: Bebe Zahara Benet, Manila Luzon, Max, as well as Acid Betty, Alexis Michelle, Bob the Drag Queen, Chad Michaels, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Ginger Minj, Jade Jolie, Jade Sotomayor, Jaidynn Diore Fierce, Jessica Wild, Jiggly Caliente, Katya, Kimora Blac, Madame LaQueer, Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Milk, Mrs. Kasha Davis, Mystique Summers, Naysha Lopez, Nicole Paige Brooks, Ongina, Phoenix, Pandora Boxx, Phi Phi O’Hara, Trinity K. Bonet, and Yara Sofia. The event will be hosted by Ginger Minj and Naysha Lopez. All proceeds (including tickets, meets and greets and merchandise sales) from the show will benefit Somos Una Voz, a relief initiative founded by Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, which is rushing food, shelter, medicine, power and means of communication to Puerto Ricans in need after the island’s devastating natural disasters, organizers shared. Talent and venue are donating their services and location.
info: bit.ly/2wqPwyF.
The Human Rights Campaign announced that U.S. Sen. Kamala D. Harris will speak and two-time Emmy Award-winning actress Uzo Aduba will be honored at the 21st annual national dinner on Oct. 28 at the Washington Convention Center.
info: hrc.org.
Deva Station was crowned as Miss Gay America 2018. Alternates include: Miss Gay America 2018 First Alternate/Miss Gay Heart of America 2017 First Alternate Brooke Lynn Hytes (Nashville, Tenn.), Miss Gay New York 2017 Kelly Ray Shelton (Durham, N.C.), Miss Gay Northeast America 2017 Dessie Love-Blake (Houston, Texas) and Miss Gay Northeast America 2017 First Alternate Mary Nolan (Columbus, Ohio).
info: missgayamericapageant.blogspot.com.
In response to the introduction of the 2020 American Census Investment Act in Congress by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Equality California National Policy Director Valerie Ploumpis urged Congress to restore funding to the U.S. Census effort.
info: eqca.org.
On National Coming Out Day, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski honored longtime LGBTQ rights activist Kate Kendall and philanthropist Bruce Bastian with keys to the city for the work that they had done for LGBTQ equality.
info: slcgov.com.
The next season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will feature an All Stars cast.
info: allstars.logotv.com.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center filed an amended complaint on behalf of the mother of a transgender boy in her lawsuit against a hospital for discrimination against her son Kyler. Katharine Prescott filed the amended complaint after the Court’s ruling on Sept. 27 that the Affordable Care Act’s sex discrimination protections apply to transgender kids. The court also ruled that Prescott is entitled to seek emotional distress damages on behalf of her son, who died by suicide a few weeks after his experience at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego for inpatient care.
info: nclrights.org. transgenderlawcenter.org.
New York Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman led an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by 18 attorneys general, arguing that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
info: ag.ny.gov.
Scotland’s Equality Network has published its Scottish LGBTI hate crime report 2017, based on a detailed survey of 1,445 individuals. The report reveals that two-thirds of those who identify as lesbian, gay and bisexual, and four-fifths of transgender individuals have experienced hate crimes targeted at them. In nine out of 10 cases, they experienced more than one hate crime. Eighteen percent of LGB individuals and 30 percent of transgender people have experienced more than 10 hate crimes.
info: equality-network.org.
The Center for Global Development’s Senior Fellow Charles Kenny and Researcher Dev Patel released a new study that finds that just as social attitudes toward gays and lesbians have changed rapidly in the developed world, these attitudes are also changing in the developing world. The study also suggests that the changes in social attitudes often follow and are caused by changes in government policy toward gays and lesbians. The study, “Norms and Reform: Legalizing Homosexuality Improves Attitudes,” uses public opinion data on this issue from the Gallup World Poll and the World Values Survey and matches changes in attitudes over time with the timeline of laws concerning same-sex decriminalization. The study also includes data visualizations that show legal trends over time and geography.
info: cgdev.org.
Condé Nast announced the launch of them, a next-generation community platform, which chronicles life’s stories through the lens of the LGBTQ community. Launch partners of them include Burberry, Google, Lyft and GLAAD.
info: bcondenast.com.
Celebrity Cruises has announced that same-sex marriages performed onboard are now legally recognized. The motion followed a vote in Malta, where a majority of the Celebrity fleet is registered, which passed the country’s parliament 66-1. The referendum opens the door for Celebrity to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed onboard and have the fleet’s captains officiate the ceremonies.
info: celebritycruises.com.
Just Associates, Inc. announced that two of its data integrity experts will speak at the 89th Annual AHIMA Convention & Exhibit in Los Angeles, Calif. The presentation will highlight the need to improve outcomes, reduce care disparities and meet the unique health needs of the LGBTQ patient population through effective data collection processes that enable quality care and data integrity, the company said.
info: justassociates.com.
Armistead Maupin has released a new book entitled “Logical Family: A Memoir.” He was interviewed by The Washington Post columnist Steven Petrow, saying that he “feels lucky to be here.”
info: stevenpetrow.com.
Funders for LGBTQ Issues will present their Pride in Philanthropy Awards on Nov. 2 in New York, N.Y. Receiving honors will be: Marco Antonio Quiroga (Reed Erickson Trailblazing Leadership Award) for his work at the Contigo Fund; Laughing Gull Foundation (Out in the South Leadership Award) for bringing more resources to LGBTQ southern communities; Henry van Ameringen (Paul Rapoport Award for Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy) for his decades of philanthropic giving to LGBTQ communities; The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund (Out for Impact Award) for its commitment to LGBTQ issues over the course of almost two decades; and The Trans Justice Funding Project (Out for Impact Award) for its work in the transgender community.
info: lgbtfunders.org.
Following the Oct. 6 guidance issued by the Trump administration, the National LGBT Bar Association, the Capital Area Muslim Bar Association, the Muslim Bar of New York, the National Bar Association, the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association released a joint statement objecting to the so-called “religious freedom” order. “The guise of ‘religious freedom’ is not fooling anyone,” said D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association. “This guidance provides for legalized discrimination on taxpayer dollars. No individual’s rights and liberties should be stripped away in the name of another’s religion.”
info: lgbtbar.org.
Universal Studios Hollywood guests visiting the theme park as part of its VIP Experience will have the opportunity to step onto Soundstage 22 on the Universal backlot to see first-hand where “Will & Grace” is taped.
info: nbcuni.com.
NMAC’s second annual Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit will be held in New Orleans, La. from Dec. 4-5. The event brings together HIV advocates and experts from health departments, community-based organizations, industry and healthcare providers around the country to learn how to best incorporate biomedical HIV prevention resources into their plans. Registration closes Nov. 3.
info: biomedicalhivsummit.org.
Chronicle, a collaborative visual storytelling platform, has launched a video for LGBTQ History Month showing the story of the LGBTQ movement through photographs contributed by the community. The video is part of an effort to raise awareness of the LGBTQ chronicle (currently 1938-present), a crowdsourced, ongoing visual record of the subject.
info: onechronicle.com/chronicles/lgbtq.
The award-winning suspense thriller “B&B” was released in the U.S. on Oct. 13. It was written and directed by BAFTA-nominated Joe Ahearne and produced by Jayne Chard.
info: bnbfilm.co.uk.
OutServe-SLDN joined with 10 other organizations including the Human Rights Campaign, GLAD, National Center for Lesbian Rights and SAGE in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of Jameka K. Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, et. al. The petition, brought by Lambda Legal, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of Jameka Evans, a Savannah security guard who was harassed at work and forced from her job because she is a lesbian. The petition seeks a nationwide ruling that sexual orientation discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Petitioners of Evans are AdRoll, Inc.; Affirm, Inc.; Airbnb, Inc.; AltSchool; American Airlines; Apple; BASF Corporation; Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.; Betterment; Brandwatch; Caldwell Partners; Carnival Corporation; CBS Corporation; Celtra Inc.; Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company; Citrix Systems, Inc.; City National Bank; Coach, Inc.; Cornerstone Capital Inc.; Deutsche Bank; Diageo North America, Inc.; DoorDash, Inc.; Dropbox, Inc.; Eastern Bank; eBay Inc.; Edelman; The Estée Lauder Companies; Facebook, Inc.; FiftyThree, Inc.; General Assembly; Google LLC; Gusto; HopSkipDrive; IAC/InterActiveCorp; Indiegogo; Intel Corporation; Kargo; Levi Strauss & Co.; Linden Lab; LinkedIn; Lyft, Inc.; Mapbox; MassMutual; Mastercard International Inc.; Match Group, Inc.; Miami HEAT; Microsoft Corporation; Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams; Morgan Stanley; National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC); NIO U.S.; OBOX Solutions; On Top of the World Communities, Inc.; Out Leadership; PayPal Holdings, Inc.; Pinterest; RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A.; RBC Capital Markets, LLC; RealNetworks, Inc.; Replacements, Ltd.; Rhapsody International Inc. d/b/a Napster; Rising Tide Brewing Company; Royal Bank of Canada; salesforce.com, inc.; Shutterstock, Inc.; Spotify USA Inc.; Starbucks Corporation; Sun Life Financial (U.S.) Services Company, Inc.; Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Ltd.; Thumbtack, Inc.; Trillium Asset Management; Uber Technologies, Inc.; Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.; Viacom Inc.; Weebly, Inc.; and Witeck Communications.
info: outserve.org. bit.ly/2yjJjbT.
In the U.S., the Elton John AIDS Foundation will launch a new funding initiative to address HIV in Black gay men and transgender individuals, building on its years of experience and support in fighting AIDS in these communities. In Eastern Europe, the foundation will launch the Key Populations Fund for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, focused on prevention and treatment of HIV and hepatitis C for individuals most vulnerable to the HIV epidemic in the region: people who use drugs, sex workers, and gay and bisexual men in the region.
info: ejaf.org.
What was supposed to be a happy day turned into one filled with distress when a dedication ceremony on Oct. 11 was essentially derailed. A rainbow flag was slated to be unveiled at the historic Stonewall National Monument area in a historic event marking the first time that the LGBTQ flag waved over federally-funded land. However, plans went sideways when the Trump administration pulled its support for the flag’s flying on federal land with permanent stewardship by the National Park Service. Instead of the flag flying on U.S. government land, it is actually flying on New York City property. “The distinction may seem like a minor one because the flag is still flying either way. But to the group that had lobbied for the flag to be added to the site, the Park Service’s surprise announcement that the city, not the federal government, would be maintaining the flag and its pole seemed like a betrayal,” The Associated Press reported.
info: apnews.org.
Gay Democratic State Reps. Daniel Hernandez, César Chávez and Otoniel Navarrete and Sen. Robert Meza have established the first LGBTQ caucus in the Arizona legislature.
info: azcentral.com.
The Point Foundation honored public figures at its recent Point Honors event. Wanda Sykes was presented with the Point Legend Award by Anthony Anderson for having “achieved greatness in her career and unapologetically supporting the LGBTQ community.” Writer, director, and producer Jill Soloway received the Impact Award, presented by Kathryn Hahn, for the impact Soloway has made on improving the lives of the LGBTQ community. Wilson Cruz, via video message from New York, was presented with the Point Courage Award for his advocacy work on behalf of the LGBTQ community. The foundation also received acknowledgment when it received a $1.8 million contribution by Wells Fargo which goes to support Point’s new Community College Scholarship Program, scholarships for Point Scholars in four-year and advanced degree programs and Point’s leadership development programs and conferences.
info: pointfoundation.org.
Indonesia has tried to ban LGBTQ content on TV before it turns everyone gay, Netshark reported.
info: netshark.com.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2017 Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award, given to an up-and-coming state or local LGBTQ elected official whose promising political career will move forward equality, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute announced. The winner will be presented with the award during the 2017 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. from Dec. 6-9.
info: victoryinstitute.org. lgbtqleaders.org.
Submissions are being accepted for the annual Lammys for the Lambda Literary Awards.
info: lambdaliterary.org.
Egale Canada has announced that it will be conducting its second national study on the state of homophobia, transphobia and biphobia in Canadian schools. This inquiry will measure what works and what needs to be done for LGBTQ students in schools across Canada.
info: egale.ca.
Ms. Magazine reported that legislation was introduced that would enable incarcerated women to receive free menstrual products and a ban on shackling pregnant women, among other improvements intended to change how parents interact with their children while in prison. They interviewed Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, an advocate for menstrual equality and author of “Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equality” which was due to be released this month.
info: msmagazine.com.
A groundbreaking LGBTQ art show is on display in Taiwan, the first-ever exhibition at a government-run museum, NBC News reported.
info: nbcnews.com.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially announced that when antiretroviral treatment results in viral suppression, “it prevents sexual HIV transmission.” Recent research has shown that when individuals adhere to antiretroviral therapy as prescribed to achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load, there is no risk of HIV transmission to an HIV-negative partner. This finding was supported across three large studies, in which no HIV transmission to an HIV-negative partner was observed when the person with HIV was virally suppressed.
info: hivplusmag.com.
New Ways Ministry Executive Director Francis DeBernardo commented on Pope Francis’ Oct. 5 comments about gender difference, saying in part, “Pope Francis has once again entered the discussion of transgender issues with a statement that reveals the pontiff does not yet comprehend issues of gender identity. By referring to transgender people’s desires to transition as ‘manipulation’ and a ‘free choice’ Pope Francis shows that he does not understand that for transgender people, a transition is a discovery and affirmation of who God created them to be. … To say that transgender people are acting against the plan of God is actually itself a rejection of God’s plan for these sacred human beings.” The Pope had stated, “The biologic and psychological manipulation of sexual difference, which biomedical technology allows one to see as open to free choice — which it’s not! — is thus likely to dismantle the source of energy that nourishes the alliance of man and woman and makes it creative and fruitful.”
info: newwaysministry.org.
LGBTQ celebrities are changing society through pop culture, Forbes Magazine reported.
info: forbes.com.