(WB) New comprehensive legislation introduced in the U.S. House Thursday seeks to enshrine into law U.S. policy against anti-LGBT human rights abuses overseas and the process by which LGBT people facing persecution can seek asylum in the United States.

Lately, all eyes have been on the city of Sochi, Russia, the site of this year’s Olympics. The Russian Federation has infamously imposed a law banning “gay propaganda,” which has been taken to mean any and all public display of support for homosexuality. This has created a dangerous atmosphere for Russian LGBT citizens, who have been victims of physical violence gone unchecked by police, subjected to imprisonment, and other acts that effectively regulate them to second-class citizens.

One lawsuit or election can roll back many of the gains

Precisely on cue with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, anti-LGBT groups have filed lawsuits challenging LGBT rights that may in the near future serve to test the new justice on his position on the issue.

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal judges on Monday peppered attorneys with questions about how much the bankrupt Archdiocese of Milwaukee spends to maintain its cemeteries and whether there is a strong interest in making maintenance funds available to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that he found it "frustrating" that the Justice Department hasn't been able to carry out criminal prosecutions of executives whose risky banking practices blamed for the global financial crisis.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Defendants could not escape murder charges by claiming they panicked when they discovered someone was gay or transgender under a bill headed to Gov. Jerry Brown.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A bill making its way through the Legislature would prevent defendants from using a so-called "gay panic" defense to escape murder charges.

Mario Careaga was taken into custody Thursday after a Broward judge upheld his guilty verdict in the DUI manslaughter of Miami Heat dancer Nancy Lopez-Ruiz.

Time to hang up the excuses, gay bashers.

SACRAMENTO (AP) – A bill that would strike the traditional definition of marriage from California law was approved by the state Senate on Thursday after the U.S. and state supreme courts allowed same-sex unions to resume last year.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The California Senate has approved a bill that seeks to discourage frivolous ballot questions by raising filing costs, following a measure advocating the slayings of gay and lesbian people.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut’s highest court ruled Wednesday that some legal rights of same-sex couples predate the state’s approvals of civil unions in 2005 and same-sex marriage in 2008, a decision that gay rights supporters call the first of its kind in the country.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Same-sex couples challenging Arkansas' gay marriage ban are asking any state Supreme Court justices who plan on seeking re-election to recuse from the case, arguing a legislative resolution supporting the prohibition could sway their opinion.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A federal appeals court says it will wait to decide whether attorneys' fees should be awarded in a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma's ban on gay marriage.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state law criminalizing consensual homosexual conduct is unconstitutional, an Alabama appeals court has ruled.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to reconsider its ruling granting heightened legal protections to gays and lesbians, prompting three dissenting judges to warn of far-reaching implications in same-sex marriage cases in the Western United States.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its ruling upholding a California law that barred mental counseling aimed at changing a minor's sexual orientation.

PHOENIX (AP) — A transgender man in Arizona who gave birth to three children after beginning to change from female to male can continue to pursue a divorce, a state appeals court said Wednesday in reversing a judge who refused to end the marriage.