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NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - U.S. lawmakers in both houses of Congress introduced on Thursday a bill to protect and promote the rights of the international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
The International Human Rights Defense Act, spearheaded by Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California, both Democrats, would appoint a special envoy within the U.S. Department of State to coordinate efforts to prevent discrimination and advance the rights of LGBT people worldwide.
Chris Smith, who represents New Jersey's 4th district in the US House of Representatives, made the comments during Tuesday's sitting of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, a day when 12 men were reportedly arrested for attending an alleged same-sex wedding in Nigeria.
The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee blasted the comments, calling them "close-minded and "appalling".
STOCKHOLM — A public swimming pool outside the Swedish capital is reopening this weekend after building a third changing room, for people with a "neutral gender identity."
The city of Sundbyberg, a suburb of Stockholm, says it's the first LGBT-certified swimming pool in Sweden, a country known for its tolerance toward lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.
Officials say the new changing room, which is designed for one person at the time, can also be used by people with disabilities or those who prefer to get changed in private because of their religious beliefs.
Top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called Tuesday for passage of laws granting statewide protections against housing and employment discrimination for gay and lesbian Utahns — as long as those measures safeguard religious freedom.
The move, one LGBT advocates have been pushing for years, provides a major boost for the prospects of nondiscrimination statutes on Utah's Capitol Hill. Such proposals have been bottled up in the Legislature for years — despite the church's historic endorsement of similar protections in Salt Lake City ordinances in 2009.
ATLANTA (AP) — A Texas lawmaker would strip the salaries from government officials who honor same-sex marriage licenses.
Human Rights Watch is an organisation that monitors governments around the world for abuse, operating in 90 countries. Kenneth Roth started his career as an attorney, but joined Human Rights Watch in 1987 and has been its Executive Director since 1993. Ten years ago he oversaw the creation of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights programme, and here he looks back on how LGBT rights have changed over that era.
President Obama gave transgender Americans a notable mention in the SOTU.
So the Republican establishment is breathing easy now that the Supreme Court is on the verge of issuing a ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, thus taking the question out of nasty old politics? "I think it's probably going to be a relief," a Republican committeeman from California toldJeremy W. Peters and Jonathan Martin of The New York Times, explaining that with such a ruling, "then it's off the table." Praise the Lord and thank the court.