by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS The fifth Beijing Queer Film Festival wrapped up June 19 after five days of guerrilla-style screenings around the city. Three days before the opening, the authorities ordered the festival canceled [...]

by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS LGBT people took to the streets for gay pride June 18 in Sofia, Bulgaria; Zagreb, Croatia; Budapest, Hungary; and Tijuana, Mexico. About 1,000 marched in Sofia, and 2,000 marched in [...]

by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS A voter referendum aimed at overturning Liechtenstein's new same-sex partnership law failed June 18 by a landslide of 69 percent to 31 percent. Anti-gay forces had turned in enough signatures [...]

by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS The Gay Lesbian Info Center in Belgrade, Serbia, has launched a 64-page, full-color magazine called Optimism. It is distributed free at gay bars and clubs, cultural and drop-in centers, and [...]

by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Fourteen activists were jailed overnight after police broke up the second gay pride march in St. Petersburg, Russia, just two minutes after it started June 25. The detainees said their [...]

BATTLE CREEK- Battle Creek will hold a first-ever series of Pride events, starting on Tuesday, June 28 with a night of LGBT history and the West Michigan Gay Men's Chorus at First Congregational Church. On [...]

By Tara Cavanaugh Sarah Layton just graduated from the University of Michigan at Dearborn, earning degrees in political science and criminal justice. She also won this year's Political Award at the annual Pride Banquet. 1. [...]

"I will not be stopping. I will not be sitting on a rocking chair until we have all the rights and responsibilities that go along with being a partner." - John Di Donato, this year's [...]

By Tara Cavanaugh LANSING- A committee in the Michigan House approved two bills last Tuesday that restrict public employee benefits only to married couples. Now the bills will go to the House floor for debate. [...]

FERNDALE- Affirmations community center has chosen a new exective director. Dave Garcia will take over the post as executive director on Aug. 15. Affirmations' community-based search committee, consisting of Metro Detroit area LGBT and allied [...]

DETROIT- Two LGBT community leaders squared off at a feisty town hall meeting in downtown Detroit on June 21. For Joe Posch of http://www.SupergayDetroit.com, the need is obvious for a "gayborhood" within the city limits [...]

By Jeremy Martin HOLLAND- A group calling itself "Until Love Is =" has been making a social networking stir in West Michigan. Armed with a Facebook following of more than 2,400 people, the group founded [...]

By Tara Cavanaugh LANSING- More than three dozen students from area high schools took the state capitol by storm last Wednesday, telling their lawmakers they need to be protected. The students, who take part in [...]

By Rex Wockner New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seated, signs a bill legalizing same-sex marriage at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, June 24, 2011. AP Photo by Mike Groll. New York state [...]

"Winning the freedom to marry in New York truly is a transformative moment for committed couples and for our country, a triumph for love and equality under the law. Now that we've made it here, [...]

by Rex Wockner U.S. NEWS The board of directors of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation accepted the resignation of the organization's president, Jarrett Barrios, on June 23. At the same time, eight board [...]

by Rex Wockner U.S. NEWS Lambda Legal filed suit against Oregon on June 21 on behalf of a state employee who was denied insurance coverage in connection with his being transgender. Alec Esquivel, 41, a [...]

by Rex Wockner U.S. NEWS Wisconsin's Domestic Partnership Registry was declared constitutional June 20 by the Dane County Circuit Court Branch 11. "It is clear," wrote Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser, "that Chapter 770 does not [...]

By Lisa Keen President Obama at a mid-day nationally televised press conference on Wednesday was repeatedly pressed for his views on marriage equality. He spoke out strongly against discrimination based on sexual orientation and detailed [...]

By Tara Cavanaugh A Sept. 7, 2010 photo of University of Michigan alumnus and former assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell speaking about the University of Michigan's student assembly president Chris Armstrong at a Michigan Student [...]

By Rex Wockner New York state legalized same-sex marriage June 24. The Senate passed the bill 33-29 at 10:29 p.m. and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it into law less than 90 minutes later. Same-sex couples [...]

By Dana Rudolph TRENTON, N.J.- Five days after the New York State legislature legalized marriage for same-sex couples, LGBT civil rights supporters in New Jersey are asking the state courts to rule that the state [...]

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By Tara Cavanaugh LANSING- The debate on which version of an anti-bullying bill will continue after state lawmakers return from their two-month summer break. Michigan is one of only six states without any anti-bullying legislation. [...]

KALAMAZOO- James B. Knox died of pneumonia on Monday, June 27. Knox was a co-founder of the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center and also a co-founder of the Community AIDS Resource and Education Services. [...]

Perched on a flowery swing halfway through her two-hour show at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Tuesday, Katy Perry lamented during a song, "I didn't feel the fairytale feeling." But the 13,000 people - [...]

Sacramento, CA - On Tuesday, July 5, the California State Assembly in a 49-25 vote passed a bill that would require schools to fairly and accurately portray the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights [...]