LGBTQ
National museum of LGBTQI+ history and culture proposed by Wisconsin congressman
WASHINGTON — Proposed federal legislation could add LGBTQI+ history and culture to the Smithsonian Institution’s museum tapestry. U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, introduced two bills in late October that would begin the process of creating a National Museum of American LGBTQI+ History and Culture. Both bills would need to be signed into law […]
U.S. House GOP in spending bills takes aim at federal LGBTQ, racial equity policies
U.S. House Republicans are continuing to use government spending bills to engage in culture war battles, with legislation debated during the past week that would ban pride flags on some federal buildings, strip funding from a new museum for Latino history and target certain LGBTQ and racial equity policies and programs. The hot-button provisions in […]
House Speaker Mike Johnson has long opposed abortion and LGBTQ+ rights
Before the newly elected U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in public office, the Louisiana Republican’s restrictive stances on gender identity, abortion and sexuality were honed at the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, where he served as a senior spokesperson and attorney. Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF, is the legal force behind dozens […]
Trans activists say Landry as governor could be ‘devastating,’ but they are preparing to fight
NEW ORLEANS — Peyton Rose Michelle, executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates, was in New Orleans the night that Jeff Landry won Louisiana’s gubernatorial election. Normally based in Lafayette, she came into town for an election night party for Pearl Ricks, who was running for the District 23 seat in the state House of Representatives. […]
U.S. House Republicans target ‘explicit’ books in school libraries
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee split at a Thursday hearing about whether some books containing LGBTQ+ content should be removed from public school libraries. Democrats criticized the hearing as leaning into culture war topics to attack public education, and said that those tactics resulted in book bans. […]
Activists turn their eyes toward book bans in St. Tammany school libraries
COVINGTON — National conservative activists have descended on St. Tammany Parish, an epicenter for the national fight over LGBTQ+ library books, expanding the fight to yet another venue. The group, led by Jonathan Koeppel, who alleged he was fired from his teaching job in St. Tammany parish for supporting conservative causes, and John Amanchukwu, a […]
In scrapping its LGBTQ-related travel ban, California pivots to ‘hearts and minds’
In September, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom officially repealed California’s 2016 ban on state-funded travel to states with laws targeting LGBTQ+ people. The idea behind the ban — which applied to bureaucrats, lawmakers, academics and even college athletes — was to use California’s economic heft to dissuade other states from enacting such laws. By that metric, […]
U.S. prisons chief insists to Senate panel there’s been ‘visible change’ in the system
WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday outlined to the Senate Judiciary Committee how she has sought improvements in the nation’s troubled prison system, and fielded questions from Republicans about transgender inmates. “Developing meaningful change throughout the agency is not something that happens in a moment,” Colette Peters, the director […]
Meet the parents who say their rights are ignored by the ‘parental rights’ movement
While right-wing groups like Moms for Liberty have emerged as a potent political force in the latest chapter of the decades-old “parental rights” movement, parents of LGBTQ+ children and children of color say their rights are being marginalized even further and hope to spark a wake-up call that the nation’s public education system is being […]
Federal judge temporarily blocks two sections of Arkansas’ library obscenity law
LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of the law that would have changed how Arkansas libraries handle controversial material and put the availability of certain books in the hands of elected officials. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks granted plaintiffs’ request to enjoin two of the five sections of Act 372 of 2023, […]
U.S. Rep Mike Johnson: Parents have ‘no right to sexually transition a young child’
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on a panel for limited federal government on Thursday argued that parents should not be allowed to let their transgender children have access to gender-affirming care. “A parent has no right to sexually transition a young child,” the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, […]
LSU fires graduate assistant who left vulgar voicemail for state senator
An LSU graduate assistant will be relieved of his teaching duties — but remain at the school as a student — after leaving a vulgar voicemail for a state senator, the university confirmed Thursday. The student, Marcus Venable, was incorrectly identified as a professor at LSU by conservative commentator Greg Price, who circulated a voicemail […]