Today Jenny Durkan bested 20 other candidates to become the first lesbian in Seattle history to win a mayoral primary, and positioning herself to become the first openly lesbian mayor of the city. With a general election win in November, Jenny would become just one of two openly lesbian mayors currently representing major U.S. cities.
Americans oppose the President’s position on transgender individuals in the military. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, adults nationwide favor transgender troops serving openly and disapprove of the President’s announcement that the he would not “accept or allow” transgender troops – and they especially dislike his decision to make this announcement on Twitter.
A young entrepreneur in India is playing matchmaker, arranging marriages between gay singles in a country where homosexuality is still technically illegal. Urvi Shah, 23, launched the International Marriage Bureau for Gays and Lesbians (IAGM) in 2015. Since then, IAGM has helped 21 couples in India, and more than 100 couples internationally, form long-term partnerships and marriages.
Transgender rights activists have a surprising new ally in their fight with the Texas government: the state’s affluent and powerful oil industry. In a letter sent to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Monday, a number of prominent oil executives joined a group of more than 50 Houston business leaders in denouncing legislation targeting the transgender community.
The reactions to President Donald Trump’s tweets last Wednesday announcing a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military have continued pouring in this week. On Tuesday, 56 retired military officers spoke out against the announcement, warning that the policy, if implemented, “would degrade military readiness.”
Last week, the President, who himself obtained five deferments to avoid the military draft, tweeted he would “not accept or allow” transgender people to serve in the armed forces in any capacity. He claimed it would lead to tremendous medical costs and create widespread disruption.
In the four months since The New York Times first reported that authorities in Chechnya “were arresting and killing gay men,” evening cable and evening broadcast news programming has virtually ignored the story. Between April 1 and July 31, there were only three significant mentions in total across six networks — two news packages and one brief exchange — about the ongoing human rights abuses.
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