Some might say this was inevitable: The Human Rights Campaign today endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. (Scroll down to take our poll as to who you’d like to see as the Democratic nominee.)
In a statement, HRC president Chad Griffin noted that “we are preparing to put the full force of the Human Rights Campaign behind a pro-equality candidate who will be our next champion in the White House,” adding that the organization will be “launching an unprecedented effort over the next nine months to register, organize, and mobilize the nation’s pro-equality majority for Hillary Clinton and other key supportive candidates on the ballot this year.”
He continues, “In the time since she became the very first First Lady to march in a pride parade, she has led on bills to protect LGBT workers from employment discrimination, advanced hate crimes legislation, pushed for greater HIV/AIDS prevention and funding, and worked to extend partner benefits. As Secretary of State, she did more to advance LGBT equality as a pillar of U.S. foreign policy than any other diplomat in history, giving a landmark speech to the United Nations declaring that ‘gay rights are human rights.’ She helped lead the United Nations to pass the first-ever U.N. resolution on the human rights of LGBT people, and created the Global Equality Fund to advance the rights of LGBT people around the globe.”
Immediately following the announcement, Clinton released a statement, thanking the organization that shares her initials.
“I’m honored to receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign—the nation’s largest organization working to achieve full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. Thanks to the Human Rights Campaign and millions of advocates across the country, we’ve made tremendous progress. But our work is far from over. Too many LGBT Americans still face discrimination — in employment, in housing, in education, in health care — because of who they are or who they love. And the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. The Republican candidates for president have not only hurled hateful, insulting rhetoric about the LGBT community — they’ve made it clear that if elected, they will roll back the rights that so many have fought for.
“As President, I will continue to fight alongside the LGBT community to pass the Equality Act. I’ll support efforts to allow transgender personnel to serve openly, and I’ll end the dangerous practice of ‘conversion therapy’ on minors. I’ll expand access to HIV prevention and treatment, and confront the epidemic of violence facing the transgender community, especially transgender women of color. And I’ll continue the efforts I led as Secretary of State to advance the human rights of LGBT people around the world.
“I’m proud to stand with the Human Rights Campaign in this fight. Together, we can and will make our country—and our world—more just, fair, and equal for generations to come.”
A group of students, parents, and teachers in Florida have reached a settlement with state educational authorities that clarifies several provisions in the state's infamous "Don't Say Gay" law.
The "Don't Say Gay" law, officially dubbed the "Parental Rights in Education" law, sought to limit students' exposure to LGBTQ issues and identities under the guise of keeping parents informed and giving them outsized influence over what subjects are broached in the classroom.
Soon after its passage, proponents of the law quickly dubbed opponents "groomers," claiming they wanted to indoctrinate children into adopting values or embracing ideas that run counter to their parents' morals or beliefs or expose them to age-inappropriate subjects. Republican lawmakers soon expanded the law's restrictions on K-3 classrooms to apply to all K-12 classrooms in the state.
As You Are, a queer bar, café, and dance boutique in D.C.'s Barracks Row neighborhood, has successfully raised over $156,000 through a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign. The amount exceeds the $150,000 goal set by the bar's owners.
Co-owner Rach "Coach" Pike told Axios that the space, which opened fewer than two years ago, is in debt due to slow business during the winter months, increased operational costs, and an expensive lease.
"We need to get over this hump and out of debt, or we'll be put out of business," Pike said.
The funds raised through the GoFundMe campaign will be used to pay rent and back taxes, allowing the bar to qualify for community grants under the District's "Clean Hands" mandate.
A Russian court sentenced a woman to five days in prison for wearing a pair of rainbow-colored earrings, according to the human rights group Egida.
The ruling marks the second such time a person has been prosecuted following a recent Russian Supreme Court case declaring the so-called "LGBT movement" an extremist organization, which resulted in the banning of official LGBTQ organizations and raids of LGBTQ-centric establishments.
As reported by Egida on its Telegram channel, law enforcement agents tasked with combating "extremism" detained the woman after a group of "aggressive people" approached her and her friend at a local café and began filming them.
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