Transgender people receiving Medicare may no longer be automatically denied coverage for sex reassignment surgeries, a U.S. Department of Health and Services review board ruled Friday in a groundbreaking decision that recognizes the procedures as a medically necessary and effective treatment for individuals who do not identify with their biological sex.

Miami – The Miami Dade County Commission voted 8-3 on an amendment that will add gender identity and expression to the existing human rights ordinance if passed. The 9 a.m. meeting started an hour late and an estimated 3,000 people, according to Equality Florida, attended.

A city in western Michigan is adding sexual orientation and gender identity to an existing non-discrimination ordinance on housing and employment.

DETROIT (AP) _ A month after Michigan's same-sex marriage ban was overturned, the state is vigorously defending another law that's being challenged by gays and lesbians: a prohibition on domestic partner benefits for employees in public schools and local governments.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan Republican has introduced legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, but gay rights advocates say it should also include protections for transgender residents.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Civil Rights Commission is calling on the Legislature to prohibit discrimination against gays by passing civil rights protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Supporters of amending Michigan's constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity cleared an initial procedural step Tuesday when the state elections board approved the format of their petition.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Supporters of amending Michigan's constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are hoping to clear an initial procedural step.

LANSING (AP) -- Governor Rick Snyder is urging the Republican-led Legislature to keep alive a bill that would amend Michigan's civil rights law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A coalition of business and civil rights leaders is expanding an effort to lobby Michigan's Legislature to make it illegal to discriminate against gay and transgender people.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Spectrum Health will begin extending insurance benefits to same-sex partners in 2015.

The Human Rights Campaign says the Waveland City Council has passed an anti-discrimination resolution recognizing the dignity and worth of all city residents -- including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Missouri businesses are divided over a proposed ban on discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, with some companies during a Wednesday hearing backing the measure as needed to recruit top candidates and some powerful business groups countering it could lead to more lawsuits.

The effort to pass an LGBT nondiscrimination law in Pennsylvania recently received new financial support.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nearly all Nebraska school districts and some cities and counties will soon begin offering insurance benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

An independent think tank that studies the progress of the movement on equal rights for LGBT people released its latest report Tuesday, and the assessment is a surprising “mixed.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Some Charlotte businesses are proposing protections for employees who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has thrown its considerable heft behind efforts to get Indiana lawmakers to add LGBT civil rights protections into state law, announcing Wednesday that it joined a coalition of businesses that is pushing for the change.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers introduced three bills Wednesday that would ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, but even supporters noted they face a tough fight in gaining approval for the proposals.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to ban workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Nebraskans will move to the full Legislature as initially planned.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Hundreds of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transvestites paraded through Nepal’s capital Sunday to demand that rights for sexual minorities be included in the country’s new constitution that is being finalized.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Another business group has formed to lobby for extending Indiana's civil rights protections to bar discrimination against members of the LGBT communities.

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police have issued new guidelines on how officers should treat transgender people, a policy that department officials say is to ensure everyone is treated with respect.

A coalition of local and national agencies launched this week to organize business support for legislation to ban LGBT discrimination in Pennsylvania.

NEW YORK (AP) — City officials are establishing what advocates called some of the most powerful guidelines nationwide on gender-identity discrimination, releasing specifics Monday to flesh out broad protections in a 2002 law.

Jack Reid and Larry Turner live comfortably in their Wilton Manors home. They left South Boston after 65 years because of intolerance.

Published on May 15, 2014The NHL is the first major league sport to have players from every team voice support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights. Together with the You Can Play Project, college sports teams are adopting the NHL's message of inclusion.

Nintendo is apologizing and pledging to be more inclusive after being criticized for not recognizing same-sex relationships in English editions of a life-simulator video game. The publisher said that while it was too late to change the current game, it was committed to building virtual equality into future versions if they're produced.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Many Missouri Democrats on Wednesday praised Gov. Jay Nixon’s call to bar discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation, but a tepid response from the Republicans who control the Legislature cast doubt on the proposal’s future.

The state of Michigan won't appeal a decision that struck down a law barring local governments from offering benefits to same-sex partners.