Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
By John Mack Freeman The North Carolina legislature passed a law in a special session this week that bars cities and counties from enacting their own anti-discrimination laws. Governor Pat McCrory signed the law the same day. Via Associated Press: The Republican-controlled General Assembly took action after Charlotte leaders last month approved a broad anti-discrimination measure. […]
We’ll be hosting a GLBTRT Mini-Social/Happy Hour at PLA 2016 in Denver. Thursday, April 7, 2016 from 6:30pm-8:30 at the Denver Wrangler (1700 Logan St, Denver, CO 80203). Appetizers will be provided; Cash bar with Thirsty Thursday drink specials! http://www.denverwrangler.com/ Facebook event page coming soon! If you’re attending PLA we hope you’ll join us! Invite […]
By Elizabeth Gartley When I speak to educators about LGBTQ issues, they typically have an easier time accepting different sexual orientations than gender diversity. Most of these educators are well-meaning, and they’re not unaccepting of transgender or gender nonconforming students, but rather a little perplexed at having to challenge their own notions of gender. In […]
By John Mack Freeman The writer of the reboot of the cult classic Xena: Warrior Princess has promised that he will “fully explore” the character’s lesbianism. Via Gay Star News: “Back in the 90s, the love between warrior princess Xena and her charge Gabrielle was all too obvious but was buried underneath glances, innuendo, subtext. But now, […]
By John Mack Freeman The White House announced this week that Raffi Freedman-Gurspan has been appointed as the White House’s primary LGBT liaison. Freedman-Gurspan is the first trans person to hold this role since it was created under President Clinton in 1993. Via Buzzfeed: Freedman-Gurspan became the first transgender staffer appointed to the White House in […]
By John Mack Freeman The Colorado House and the Vermont Senate each advanced bills this week that would make offering ex-gay therapy a crimes in those states. Currently, it is expected the Vermont bill will pass with little effort, but the bill in Colorado may be in trouble due to Republicans currently controlling the Colorado […]
By John Mack Freeman A new trailer has been released for a Nigerian short film with GLBT themes. Via GLAAD: The film tells the story of a pastor who is loved and adored by the people around him, but who has to make a difficult decision between being who he is and meeting societal expectations […]
Via press release Voting in the 2016 ALA elections is now open. Between March 15 and March 17, the ALA sent e-mails to voters, providing them with their unique ballot URL and information about how to vote online. The polls will close on Friday, April 22 at 11:59 p.m. Central time. Note that the mailing […]
By John Mack Freeman This week, the Georgia legislature sent House Bill 757 to Governor Nathan Deal for his signature. The bill would allow any faith-based organization to deny services to any individual based on that organizations sincerely held religious beliefs. The law is modeled on the federal “First Amendment Defense Act,” and it is […]
By Eric Hanshaw There is a new resource posted on the GLBTRT Professional Tools page. It is under Bibliographies: Subject under the title Bisexual Fiction: Adult & Young Adult. Bisexuality is an often poorly represented part of the LGBTQ spectrum, and while literature that deals with gay and lesbian characters has slowly grown, there are […]