Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By John Mack Freeman This week, singer Cyndi Lauper testified before a Senate Approporiations subcommittee about the importance of tackling LGBT teen homelessness. Lauper has been a longtime devotee of helping homeless youth, even revealing during her testimony that she was homeless as a teen. After testifying before Congress, she also went to the White […]
By John Mack Freeman This week, Smith College officially decided that they would accept trans students. Although trans students have been considered since 2013 after they denied applicant Calliope Wong, the policy has been under review. The all-women’s school has come under frequent fire in recent years for denying trans students acceptance to the institution. An announcement […]
By John Mack Freeman (thanks to Chris Boire for the head’s up) As Randy Berry begins his role as the United States State Department’s first ever LGBT envoy, he has a lot on his plate. He has been instructed by Secretary John Kerry to maintain the Department’s internal LGBT policies and to administer them in […]
Via press release (thanks to Carolyn Caywood for the head’s up) On February 17, 2015, Freedom to Read Foundation filed an amicus brief in this case challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s “Revictimization Relief Act.” That law, passed in October 2014, permits crime victims to sue offenders to stop actions – including speech – that cause “mental […]
By John Mack Freeman Vox published a time lapse video of the march towards full marriage equality in the United States earlier this week. The brief two-minute video highlights the steady increase in the number of Americans living in states where same sex marriage is legal. Watch the video below:
By Tess Goldwasser (Ed note: Nik was interviewed back in January! Then he got buried under my massive to do list… Until now! So he DEFINITELY mentions the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting as if it is a future, and not past, event, but given THIS context, the context of the mountain o’ stuff on my […]
By John Mack Freeman In Montana, Governor Bullock signed an anti-bullying law into effect. The measure had taken over ten years to become a law, making Montana the last state in the union to have a statewide anti-bullying law on the books. Via the Billings Gazette: The new law defines bullying as any repeated harassment, hazing or […]
By John Mack Freeman Two new polls released this week have shown increased support for both same-sex marriage and acceptance of trans people. First, an ABC News poll showed 61 percent of respondents approving of same-sex marriage. This is the highest level of support ever recorded by this poll. This is almost a doubling of […]
By John Mack Freeman In a move that surprised many, Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona (R) revoked that state’s ban on adoption by same-sex couples. According to a spokesman, the voiding of a Department of Child Safety mandate came this week because the governor just learned of the policy. Although Ducey has strong ties to […]
Via press release CHICAGO – Join the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) as it hosts a preconference highlighting library services to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans* and queer/questioning community. “Rolling out the Rainbow Carpet: Serving LGBTQ Communities” will be held from 8:30 a.m. – noon on Friday, June 26, 2015 during […]