5 THINGS TO KNOW
Month: September 2017
POLICIES
Birmingham, AL comes out if full support of non-discrimination protections.
Today, HRC hailed the Birmingham City Council for passing city-wide non-discrimination protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public accommodations and employment. This ordinance is the culmination of more than ten years of work from local LGBTQ grassroots organizers and a pro-equality coalition including Equality Alabama and HRC.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
Gay Ghana refugee faces “gay slayer” if deported.
A gay refugee who fled Ghana is about to be sent back to the town where, he says, a man calling himself “The Gay Slayer” is waiting to kill him. After being violently attacked by an anti-gay mob in Accra, Sadat Ibrahim came to the U.S. by way of Mexico in 2016. Homosexuality is punishable by up to three years in prison in Ghana, and violence against the LGBT community goes mostly unchecked.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
Top general challenges Trump’s transgender ban.
The top United States general told Congress this morning that he has privately recommended transgender individuals not be separated from their service because of their gender identity. “I believe any individual who meets the physical and mental standards, and is worldwide deployable and is currently serving, should be afforded the opportunity to continue to serve,” Gen. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
BUSINESS
The United Nations continues push for LGBT worker’s rights.
In 2011, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton famously gave a United Nations speech in which she said that gay rights are human rights. Today the U.N. made clear that those rights don’t go away in the workplace — and that businesses have an obligation to support such rights in the cities, states, and countries where they operate.
WORLD NEWS
Who is Germany’s far-right lesbian leader?
A far-right party, AfD, is now the third largest party in the German parliament after winning 12.6 per cent vote in Sunday’s election. One of the most prominent faces of the party is Alice Weidel—a lesbian and former Goldman Sachs banker who speaks fluent Mandarin
SPORTS
Major League Soccer referee comes out as gay to “help others”.
Assistant referee Matthew Nelson on Tuesday became the first MLS official to publicly reveal that he is gay. Nelson, who came out to friends and family in June, detailed his decision to come out in a post on OutSports.com, stating that he decided to go public in part to ease his mind and be more open with his fellow officials.