'American Idol' Alum Apologizes for Tweets

David Archuleta lands in hot water over the phrase ‘between a man and woman.’

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Gina Vivinetto

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/music/2015/04/08/american-idol-alum-apologizes-tweets

Nevada Bill Seeks To Ban Sexual Conversion Therapy For Minors
The Nevada Assembly is currently reviewing proposed legislation that would ban the use of sexual conversion therapy on minors in the state, according to multiple reports.

The bill, known as SB 353, is sponsored by Democratic state Sen. David Parks. Parks testified on the proposed legislation on Monday during a Senate Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee meeting.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/nevada-conversion-therapy_n_7026870.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Was Oregon’s ‘Teacher Of The Year’ Fired For Being Gay?

The winner of Oregon’s 2014 Teacher of the Year Award may have a fancy certificate signed by the governor, but one thing he doesn’t have is a teaching job.

That’s because special education teacher Brett Brigham was officially fired Friday after being placed on administrative leave, and he claims it all stems back to when he won the award and began talking openly about being gay.

According to Brigham, he was told by the district to stop speaking publicly, was moved to another part of his school’s building, and was threatened or blackmailed with being fired over 30 times.

He’s filed a complaint with the union and the Bureau of Labor and Industries.

“So basically it comes down to two choices,” Bigham told local Portland news station KPTV. “I can be the gay teacher who came out, who was told by his district not to speak and was crushed, or I could be the teacher who came out and was told by his district not to say he was gay and fought back for my First Amendment rights and the honest truth is, the gay part of this is very small.”

The district completed its own report of Brigham’s termination, finding no evidence of discrimination and pointing instead to Brigham missing too much class time.

He was given two months of paid leave to speak as Teacher of the Year, and the district claims he exceeded that time and declined mediation when they tried to find a solution.

“That was a smear campaign against me. It’s so full of lies, it’s not funny,” Brigham says of the report.

Interim Superintendant Jim Rose says, “It was a difficult decision and not what we hoped for. Brett is a great teacher. Unfortunately, it became clear over time that Brett’s focus was no longer his classroom and students.”

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/JfczJEdZ3CQ/was-oregons-teacher-of-the-year-fired-for-being-gay-20150408

Indiana Jones in Real Life is Your New Summer Sport: VIDEO

Andy Towle

www.towleroad.com/2015/04/indy.html

Links for 04/08/15
At Catholic New World , Archbishop Blase Cupich recaps the responses collected to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s consultations in advance of the synod on the family.

ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/links-040815

This Black Trans Man Is in Prison for Killing His Rapist

Ky Peterson, a black trans man from Georgia, has been imprisoned three years for the ‘involuntary manslaughter’ of his attacker, which he says was in self-defense.

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Sunnivie Brydum and Mitch Kellaway

www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/04/08/black-trans-man-prison-killing-his-rapist

It Is Now Illegal For A Federal Contractor To Fire Someone For Being LGBT
WASHINGTON — For the first time, companies that have contracts with the federal government are now prohibited from firing or discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, thanks to an executive order that takes effect Wednesday.

President Barack Obama signed the order in June 2014 banning workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors and the federal government. The administration took the last six months to provide rules to contractors, and to give companies time to put processes in place. The change affects 24,000 companies employing roughly 28 million workers, or about one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, called the change “historic” in a Wednesday tweet.

It is still legal in 29 states to harass someone at work or fire them for being LGBT. Democrats in Congress have tried to remedy that with the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which passed the Senate in 2013 but went nowhere in the House. They are likely to put forward a more comprehensive bill this year, banning LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, federal programs and education.

Obama had been pressing Congress for years to pass legislation addressing LGBT workplace discrimination, but finally took action himself when legislators did nothing. Top administration officials took pride Wednesday, so to speak, in the president’s record on strengthening protections for the LGBT community.

“This will effectively prevent any company that does business with the government from firing an employee based on who they are or who they love,” White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett wrote in an op-ed.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez said the bottom line is that federal contractors receive billions in taxpayer dollars to do government work, so in return, they are held to standards that they may not discriminate in hiring, firing and pay.

“Until today, it was discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability and status as a protected veteran that was prohibited,” Perez wrote in a blog post. “Now, in the first expansion since 1974, LGBT Americans enjoy these same protections.”

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/lgbt-job-discrimination-federal-contractors_n_7025564.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Making it Real: Moving Beyond Law & Policy

The U.S. Department of Justice recently brought suit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the Regional University System of Oklahoma for discrimination and retaliation against a transgender professor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/making-it-real-moving-beyond-law-policy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

New Report Sheds Light on Cable News' Dismal Coverage of Transgender Issues

Andy Towle

www.towleroad.com/2015/04/new-report-sheds-light-on-cable-news-coverage-of-transgender-issues.html