Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By John Mack Freeman In El Salvador this week, a constitutional referendum that would ban same sex marriage got preliminary approval from the legislature with 47 of 84 members backing the proposal. According to El Salvadoran law, the bill must receive 2/3 approval, or 56 of the current members. In Malawi, the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Law went into […]
By John Mack Freeman Mortal Kombat X introduces the character of Kung Jin, a former thief and now Shaolin monk and member of the Special Forces Unit. Via PinkNews: Through a series of flashbacks, gamers will get to see new character Kung Jin explore his sexuality as he fights with several others. When fan favourite character Raiden tells […]
By John Mack Freeman GLAAD released their 2015 Studio Responsibility Index this week. The index tracks LGBT representation in major studio films in wide release from year to year. Some of their findings included: 17.5% of analyzed films had LGBT representation of some kind, slightly up from 2014. Female-identified LGBT people made up 32% of […]
By John Mack Freeman A judge ruled this past Friday that opponents to Houston’s equal rights ordinance (referred to as HERO) did not have a sufficient number of signatures to place the issue on the ballot this November. The focus of the trial was on whether the city had properly invalidated pages of petitions that […]
By Tess Goldwasser What is your role in the GLBTRT? I’m in charge of the new monthly newsletter. At the end of each month, I put together some of the stories covered by the news committee blog, as well as book reviews posted by the review committee. This helps keep the membership informed on what […]
By Charlie McNabb Nonbinary Gender Identities in Media: An Annotated Bibliography is intended for nonbinary people and their allies as well as libraries wishing to expand transgender collections. Nonbinary gender identities are gaining visibility in popular culture and the news, and the community is growing rapidly. It is vital for marginalized communities to see positive […]
Via press release Editor’s note: If you haven’t voted yet, now is the time! We had only 295 ballots cast in the 2014 GLBTRT elections. This is a fantastic opportunity to have your voice heard. Did you know that you can vote in the 2015 ALA elections on your Smartphone and other mobile devices? You […]
By John Mack Freeman The city council of Jonesboro, Arkansas rejected a proposed ordinance that would have protected city workers from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. In more bad news, the city of Springfield, Missouri had its LGBT rights ordinance repealed after a 51-49 vote. In more positive news, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issued […]
By John Mack Freeman In response to a petition on the We the People website, senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett responded this week, saying in part: When assessing the validity of conversion therapy, or other practices that seek to change an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation, it is as imperative to seek guidance […]
By John Mack Freeman In one of the largest setbacks for GLBT rights in Latin America in recent months, Nicaragua has banned same sex marriages and adoption of minors by same sex couples or single gay or lesbian people. Via Gay Star News: The Family Code establishes that marriage is defined as ‘between a man […]