UPDATE: On April The Republican National Committee – meeting in California – approved a resolution to reaffirm party opposition to marriage equality.
The resolution was affirmed by the committee as increasing numbers of elected officials endorse legalizing same-sex marriage and as polls show a majority support for marriage equality among voters. Numbers also are up among Republicans.
A bill aimed at pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay members by making the organization ineligible for nonprofit tax breaks cleared its first vote on April 10 in the California Legislature.
The Senate Governance and Finance Committee voted 5 to 2 to move the first-of-its-kind bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review.
Parents of LGBT teens urged Texas lawmakers on April 9 to give their children the same legal protection as heterosexuals when it comes to prosecuting sex crimes.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted to change Texas' "Romeo and Juliet" law that protects some heterosexual teens from being prosecuted for sex crimes and apply it to gay teens as well.
A man in Royal Oak, Mich., recently submitted petitions to force a referendum on a new gay rights ordinance in the Detroit suburb.
Fred Birchard said the petitions have 1,226 signatures. They seek repeal of the measure that Royal Oak’s City Commission approved March 4.
The French Senate has voted to legalize same-sex marriage in France, putting a landmark bill on track to become law by summer.
The vote in the upper house of parliament – led by President Francois Hollande’s Socialists – comes despite boisterous protests.
Uruguayan lawmakers voted on April 10 to legalize gay marriage, making the South American country the third in the Americas to do so.
Supporters of the law, who had filled the public seats in the legislative building, erupted in celebration when the results were announced. The bill received the backing of 71 of the 92 members of the Chamber of Deputies present.
In DC Comic's "Batgirl" released April 10, character Alysia Yeoh comes out as transgender.
Wired reports that DC Comics is working to continue to expand the diversity of the superhero universe.
Vladimir Putin faced hundreds of protesters ranging from gay rights activists to a topless feminist group during his visit to Germany and the Netherlands on April 8, but the Russian president appeared unruffled by the furor.
In Hannover, Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Russia's human rights record at a press conference. Then activists from Ukraine's Femen group bared their torsos and ran at him shouting "Putin dictator!" before they were detained.
The National Hockey League on April 11 announced a partnership with the You Can Play Project to fight homophobia in sports.
The NHL will partner with You Can Play on public service announcements, as well as work together on training and counseling on gay issues for players and other team personnel.
National lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organizations joined in the march for justice for all immigrants on National Immigration Day of Action, which was observed on April 10 with a rally at the U.S. Capitol and actions around the country.
Twenty-six LGBT groups joined in the actions, including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; GLAAD; the National Center for Lesbian Rights; the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, a project of the United We Dream Network; National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance; and Immigration Equality.
She was hired to teach local police about British youth - but it was 17-year-old Paris Brown who said she learned a lesson after her scandalous tweets about drugs, drinking and sex hit the tabloids.
The Twitter postings sparked a media furor, questions over why a teen would be named a crime official and calls for Brown's resignation. The latter she gave Tuesday, along with an apology, a week after her appointment to the 15,000-pound ($22,800) a year role as Britain's first youth crime commissioner.
A new study found that residents of right-wing states with high rates of gun ownership are more likely to commit suicide than others.
The February issue of Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology published the study, which was compiled by researchers at the University of California, Riverside.
