New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is not planning to march in the nation's biggest and oldest St. Patrick's Day parade unless its organizers change their limitations on displays of gay pride.

Nebraska welfare officials have been placing foster children in the homes of gay, lesbian and unmarried couples since before Gov. Pete Ricketts took office in January, despite a 1995 policy barring the state from doing so.

Police arrested roughly two dozen LGBT rights activists after protesters refused to leave the Idaho Senate and House chambers in an attempt to pressure lawmakers into passing anti-discrimination protections.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department will file a brief with the Supreme Court stating its position that same-sex marriage bans violate the fundamental constitutional guarantee of "equal protection of the laws."

Gov. Pete Ricketts is denouncing a federal judge’s decision to strike down Nebraska’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

The justices let stand a lower court ruling against ProtectMarriage.com, the National Organization for Marriage and other supporters of a 2008 ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriages in California until the ban was overturned five years later.

Texas lawmakers are gunning for the judge who let two lesbians to get married. Meanwhile, homophobic lawmakers celebrate the 10th anniversary of the state's marriage ban. There's just one problem: the law will probably be overturned before it actually turns ten.

The California Republican Party on Sunday officially recognized the party’s organized gay wing that has fought years for formal acceptance.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told hundreds of participants at an LGBT-friendly St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday that a society for all is one that embraces and respects everyone.

Renee was a "tomboy" as long as they can remember. As a teenager, Renee was part of an all-girls youth group, and was asked to represent the group at a pageant weekend. Part of that involved wearing a gown.

New Kid on the Block Jonathan Knight, who appears on CBS' "The Amazing Race" with his partner Harley Rodriguez, opens up about how hiding his sexual orientation led to his struggle with stage fright and panic attacks.

Many leaders of the Christian Right, from megachurch pastors like Rick Warren to the top prelates in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have repeatedly threatened civil disobedience (and worse) over marriage equality.  If they follow through on their claims, a summer of “martyrdom” may be at hand if the

Local LGBT community leaders in Charlotte, N.C., are responding with messages of support and encouragement, following the death Thursday of a transgender student. Ash Haffner, 16, died by suicide on Thursday.

Despite a perception that he’s the most LGBT-friendly Republican in the field of potential presidential candidates, Jeb Bush said Friday he remains opposed to same-sex marriage, reports The Washington Blade.

An Alabama appeals court reversed itself on Friday, ruling that a woman who separated from her same-sex partner in Georgia can pursue visitation rights in Alabama.

A Missouri legislator has introduced a bill that would make it illegal for the state to enforce a marriage other than between a man and a woman and could lead to the firing of government employees who issue such licenses.

Fresh from his Oscar win for Lead Actor for his performance as famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” British actor Eddie Redmayne is taking on another project that involves a drastic physical transformation.

Kentucky's state Senate voted Friday to force transgender students to use separate bathrooms in public schools, a move that recalled the dark days of segregation for some but for others represented a stand for privacy rights.

David and Jason Benham say they're working to defeat a proposed LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance in Charlotte, N.C., which David Benham called “so depraved and just absolutely craziness.”

Two Mississippi Supreme Court justices said Thursday that the court should find the state's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional and not wait for a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Scheming villains thirst to rollback the progress our nation has attained toward full LGBT equality. But, could they actually do it? Insidious laws like Arkansas' innocent-sounding "Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act" (SB 202) may provide the roadmap.

West Virginia Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael says there's "no way" his chamber will consider a proposal to nullify local ordinances that protect LGBT people from housing and employment discrimination.

Facebook users who don't fit any of the 58 gender identity options offered by the social media giant are now being given a rather big 59th option: fill in the blank.

An international team of scientists have shown that it is possible to create human sperm and eggs from stem cells derived from adult skin, regardless of the donor’s gender.

A West Virginia House committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that would nullify local nondiscrimination ordinances that critics said amounted to “legislative gay bashing.”

Courts in more than two-thirds of Mexico’s 31 states have granted same-sex couples the right to marry over the past two years in a series of rulings that will likely make marriage equality a reality nationwide in the near future.
(BuzzFeed News)

Supporters who rallied around Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore during his 2003 Ten Commandments fight returned to Alabama Wednesday to praise his stand against same-sex marriage.

Why do some bakeries have to sell gay wedding cakes, but they don't have to sell cakes with homophobic slurs? And what's REALLY at stake here? Unfurrow your confused brow with this Fireside Chat from Matt Baume.

Several Texas lawmakers joined conservative leaders at the state capitol in Tuesday for a controversial slice of symbolic wedding cake in a 10th anniversary celebration of the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

A former Salt Lake City police officer who was put on leave and later resigned after he objected to riding in the motorcycle brigade at the front of last year's gay pride parade is speaking out against what he believes was a violation of his religious liberties.

The rabbi who defied Texas' same-sex marriage ban and wed a lesbian couple last week led the morning prayer in the Republican-dominated Texas House on Wednesday, catching staunch supporters of the prohibition off-guard.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has announced a settlement of its federal lawsuit alleging that gay students were routinely bullied in a south Mississippi school district.

A state lawmaker's complaint has prompted the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct to investigate a judge who ordered the issuance of a marriage license to a same-sex couple.

A "conscience-protection" proposal in Arkansas that critics call an attempt to sanction discrimination against gays and lesbians has failed before a legislative panel.

Some North Carolina court officials could opt out of marriage duties - including same-sex marriages - under legislation approved by the state Senate.

The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska announced its new policy following a unanimous vote by the council’s governing board to define legal marriage without a gender requirement.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday issued a final rule revising the regulatory definition of spouse under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to include married, same-sex couples.

A unique federally funded study offers a detailed look at the lives of LGBT youth in New York City who cope with homelessness and poverty by engaging in what the researchers call "survival sex."

The Indiana state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill designed to allow private businesses, individuals and organizations to refuse services for same-sex weddings because of religious beliefs.

Former Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers said Tuesday that two bills being debated by lawmakers create an excuse to discriminate against LGBT people or break state laws and are "deserving of a quick death."

The federal government is supporting a Detroit-area teenager who, in a lawsuit, accuses several schools of discriminating against him because he's transgender.

The congressional caucus that aims to advance LGBT issues made public its membership for the 114th Congress, and the size of the group is not even half of what it was in its previous iteration.
(Washington Blade)

Walmart on Tuesday criticized a “conscience protection” measure in the retail giant’s home state that opponents say sanctions discrimination against gays and lesbians, while Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson also expressed concerns about the legislation.

The highest profile openly gay member of Congress retired in 2013 after 32 years, leaving a legacy of legislation on financial reform as well as changes in perceptions and laws about homosexuality.
(Los Angeles Times)

The House on Tuesday voted 33-to-26 to reject the bill that would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. It had already cleared the Wyoming state Senate.

The Republican governor said he had reservations about the House-backed "conscience protection" measure that's pending before a Senate committee, but stopped short of saying whether he opposed the bill.

The couple whose lawsuit got Alabama's same-sex marriage ban ruled unconstitutional is headed back to court after a probate judge again refused to grant their adoption petition.

For the first time, a study shows that a drug used to treat HIV infection also can help prevent it when taken before and after sex between two men.

Nearly six years after a unanimous Iowa Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, Republican lawmakers are still battling to overturn the ruling by amending the state constitution.

Legislation that would protect the practice of therapy that seeks to change people's sexual orientation or gender identity in Oklahoma was approved by a state House committee Tuesday.

Lovers of emojis, the cute graphics that punctuate online writing and texts, will soon be able to pick from different skin tones and depictions of same-sex couples and families with two moms or two dads on Apple devices.

A bill that would allow magistrates and registers of deeds to opt out of providing legal marriage services or issuing marriage licenses, passed out of a state Senate committee on Tuesday, and heads to a full hearing on the Senate floor.

Attorneys on both sides of the legal fight over Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage have turned in final written arguments on a motion to quash the ban immediately.

Three more states could soon join California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia in outlawing therapy that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT youth.

Transgender students would have to use separate restrooms in Kentucky's public schools under a bill that cleared the Senate Education Committee on Monday.

Walmart Stores Inc. said late Monday it opposes a new law in its home state of Arkansas to ban cities and counties from expanding anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Moore is not gay. His speech was not about LGBT youth, many of whom experience depression because of the homophobia and transphobia in which our culture is mired. His speech was not even about the reality of Alan Turing’s life itself.
(BuzzFeed)

Arkansas on Monday banned local governments from expanding anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, becoming the second state to adopt a measure opponents call a thinly-veiled move to discriminate against LGBT people.

The United States named its first international envoy for gay rights Monday, tasking a veteran diplomat with leading U.S. efforts to fight violence and discrimination against LGBT individuals overseas.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Sunday that transgender individuals should not be prevented from serving in the U.S. military solely based on their gender identity.

A few judges are still refusing to see gay and lesbian couples in Alabama. Texas has had its first lesbian marriage, and now state officials are scrambling to find a way to undo it.

A Philippine court entered a not guilty plea Monday for a U.S. Marine charged with murdering a transgender Filipino, allegedly after he discovered her biological sex when they checked into a hotel.

Graham Moore, who on Sunday won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Imitation Game,” took the opportunity to give a powerful acceptance speech calling awareness to teen suicide and depression, recalling his own attempt at suicide at age 16.

The long take of "Birdman" has stretched all the way to the Academy Awards, where the jazzy, surreal comedy about an actor fleeing his superhero past, took Hollywood's top honor in a ceremony punctuated by passionate pleas for equality.

Last week, after a series of lightning-fast votes, the Arkansas legislature delivered SB 202 to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s desk. If it becomes law, this bill will preempt local nondiscrimination laws and policies that offer protections on any basis not yet included in state law.

An altercation outside a Phoenix record store escalated into a hit and run that was caught on camera, and the victim says the incident all started with a gay slur.

Tradition reigns on the Navajo reservation, but the national debate over same-sex marriage is prompting some to re-examine a 2005 tribal law called the Dine Marriage Act, which prohibits same-sex unions on the reservation.
(The New York Times)

Alabama's chief justice, previously best known for being removed from office for refusing to move a 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument from the state Supreme Court building, has been thrust back into the national spotlight over his fight to block same-sex marriage from coming to Alabama.

Femi Redwood of Milton, Del., grew up in an environment that was accepting of both her sexuality and her race, despite the fact that she was one of the few minorities in town.