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The battle for LGBT rights in Georgia is far from over

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The battle for LGBT rights in Georgia is far from over

Georgia’s gay community celebrated its largest victory ever this summer, but the state remains without laws to specifically protect LGBT citizens against discrimination.

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The Need for LGBT Data Collection

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The Need for LGBT Data Collection

“This lack of data on sexual orientation and gender identity puts policymakers in uncharted territory as they create policies that affect LGBT people and their families.”

Photo: New York Post

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New Rules Bar Transgender Discrimination In Health Care

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New Rules Bar Transgender Discrimination In Health Care

Transgender people would be entitled to equal treatment in health care and would gain the legal right to make civil rights claims against insurers, doctors, hospitals and others who deny them coverage or necessary care because they are transgender.

Photo: lgbtqnation.com

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State of Black Gay America Summit Held

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State of Black Gay America Summit Held

The State of Black Gay America Summit, a luncheon and panel series brought together black LGBT community members and allies to discuss issues affecting the community. 

Gregory Allen, Founder and Chairman of the State of Black Gay America Summit. (Photo by Patrick Saunders)

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LGBT Institute officially launches at Center for Civil and Human Rights

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LGBT Institute officially launches at Center for Civil and Human Rights

"It's the perfect time and the perfect place to shine a spotlight on issues that don't often get a platform."

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Missouri Teenagers Protest a Transgender Student’s Use of Girls' Bathroom

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Missouri Teenagers Protest a Transgender Student’s Use of Girls' Bathroom

“I think that there are a lot of folks that don’t understand the difference between sex and gender and only see Lila as her sex at birth,” said Morgan Keenan, Founder and Director of Missouri Gay-Straight Alliance Network

Photo: Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via Associated Press

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Ashley Diamond, Transgender Georgia inmate, released early from prison

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Ashley Diamond, Transgender Georgia inmate, released early from prison

"Her release does not erase her barbaric treatment by GDC officials, which was tantamount to torture. Nor is her plight isolated. We will continue to advocate for an end to prison practices that unfairly punish and inflict pain on transgender inmates.” -- Chinyere Ezie, Southern Poverty Law Center staff attorney 

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Black Trans Lives Matter rally takes over Underground Atlanta

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Black Trans Lives Matter rally takes over Underground Atlanta

LGBT activists and supporters gathered for a rally in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday to call attention to a rash of anti-trans violence, with a reported 17 transgender people being killed across the country so far this year.

Photo: Georgia Voice

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Gay Refugees Address U.N. Security Council in Historic Meeting on LGBT Rights

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Gay Refugees Address U.N. Security Council in Historic Meeting on LGBT Rights

"Members of the LGBT community really fear persecution as they watch these horrendous sights of people being hurled off buildings…they won’t come out and request protection because they’re too afraid to tell anyone.”

Subhi Nahas, a gay Syrian refugee, speaks at the United Nations headquarters in New York, August 24. The U.N. Security Council held its first-ever meeting on LGBT rights on Monday. Photo: MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

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LGBT groups to Obama: Private prison not safe for transgender women

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LGBT groups to Obama: Private prison not safe for transgender women

"...Transgender detainees make up less than one percent of the estimated 34,000 people held in detention, yet made up 1 out of 5 confirmed instances of sexual assault in immigration detention facilities."

Photo: Fusion.net

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Gay and Marked for Death

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Gay and Marked for Death

“The Iraqi refugee I interviewed told me that on social media earlier this year, he saw images of a rooftop execution and learned later that the victim — unrecognizable because he was blindfolded and shown mostly from behind — was a friend of his who hadn’t left Iraq.”

Photo from The Daily Mail: Two ISIS militants wait for an order to throw the men over the edge of the building. 

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#BlackLivesMatter unveils Campaign Zero

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#BlackLivesMatter unveils Campaign Zero

The comprehensive set of policy demands on the federal and state level introduced by Black Lives Matter activists on Friday, named Campaign Zero, comes after months of discussions with protesters from across the country and was informed by the recommendations of President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

LGBT advocates are 2-for-2 in fighting religious freedom laws.

LGBT advocates are 2-for-2 in fighting religious freedom laws.

“LGBT rights advocates say it's too soon to tell whether the so-called religious freedom debate -- which has been simmering politically ever since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide -- is going to be the next legal battle on the LGBT frontier. But it's certainly possible.”

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Small Legal Gains Signal Big Leap For LGBT Rights In Africa

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Small Legal Gains Signal Big Leap For LGBT Rights In Africa

Legal experts say the victories “represent significant progress on human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and have broader implications with regard to countries’ obligations to uphold basic rights” of those who live in the margins.

Zambian gay rights activist Paul Kasonkomona leaving magistrate court.

 AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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Open now! Needs assessment survey for transgender people living with HIV/AIDS

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Open now! Needs assessment survey for transgender people living with HIV/AIDS

“This survey is a groundbreaking opportunity to not only highlight our needs, but also our resilience when there are few resources available. We are ready to offer policy makers, providers and legislators our own solutions.”

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"Gay and Gray Summit" highlights LGBT Aging in the Midwest

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"Gay and Gray Summit" highlights LGBT Aging in the Midwest

"If they're in assisted care or nursing facilities, they're going back into the closet, and these are the people that pioneered the movement."-Donna Red Wing, Executive Director, One Iowa

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Obama Releases Updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy

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Obama Releases Updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy

"We will also focus on the areas with the highest burden of disease, such as the Southern United States."

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Boy Scouts of America ends national ban on gay adults

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Boy Scouts of America ends national ban on gay adults

The resolution approved today ends the BSA’s decades-old ban on gay adults while reaffirming the First Amendment right of Boy Scout units chartered (i.e. legally sponsored) by religious organizations to select troop leaders in accordance with their religious principles. 

Democrats to Introduce LGBT Rights Bill in Congress this week

Democrats to Introduce LGBT Rights Bill in Congress this week

The measure, which lawmakers plan to file in the House and Senate, would ban discrimination in seven categories — including housing, education, and public accommodations.

Photo: Getty Images/Afp

Sexual orientation discrimination? It's already illegal, rules EEOC

Sexual orientation discrimination? It's already illegal, rules EEOC

The ruling — approved by a 3-2 vote of the five-person commission — applies to federal employees’ claims directly, but it also applies to the entire EEOC, which includes its offices across the nation that take and investigate claims of discrimination in private employment.