The Labor Department on Wednesday issued a rule to protect employees of federal contractors from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

HOUSTON –  U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told congregants of his home church Thursday that the city of Houston abused power by subpoenaing sermons and other documents from pastors who publicly opposed a local ordinance banning discrimination against gay and transgender residents.

The United States and Chile are putting the spotlight on "the barbaric treatment" of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people by the Islamic State extremist group.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah state attorneys tell a federal judge that it is reasonable to freeze all benefits for newly married gay couples because their rights are not vested until an appeal court rules on the state's same-sex marriage ban.

SALT LAKE CITY  — An activist group that backed the court fight overturning Utah's ban on same-sex marriage is applying to sponsor a Scouting troop after the Boy Scouts of America lifted its ban on gay adult leaders.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Mormon-church-backed anti-discrimination bill that protects LGBT Utah residents and religious rights received final approval at the state's Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — More than 20 years ago, Troy Williams was a young Mormon missionary who didn't know how he would reconcile his sexual preference with his faith when he came home to live in conservative Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY - A landmark Utah proposal protecting gay and transgender individuals passed its first test at the state Legislature on Thursday when a Republican-controlled Senate committee offered its unanimous and at times emotional support of the measure.

The state of Utah has agreed to pay more than $24,000 to cover legal fees for a married lesbian couple who sued after the state denied them a birth certificate with both mothers' names for their newborn baby.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers pledged Monday to renew their push to make gay marriage legal in Virginia.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Local school boards in Virginia have authority to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their anti-discrimination policies, according to the state’s attorney general.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A U.S. Navy veteran can be buried with the ashes of her late partner in a southwest Idaho military cemetery after the state legalized gay marriage.

WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) _ After being sidelined from last year's Lunar New Year parade, gay Vietnamese Americans marched with pride on Saturday in this year's event.

Thanks to a tie-breaking vote by Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, the Republican-controlled Virginia Senate has passed a bill prohibiting discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Tech will allow opposite-sex roommates to live together for the first time beginning this fall under a new pilot program announced this week.

RICHMOND, Virginia — Civil liberties lawyers are applauding Virginia's registrar of vital records for outlining new procedures to ensure the children of same-sex married couples are properly recorded by hospitals.

HOUSTON (AP) _ Houston city leaders still don't know whether opponents of new anti-bias protections for gay and transgender residents have enough signatures to force a repeal vote in November.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Mormon church-backed anti-discrimination bill that protects LGBT Utah residents and religious rights has to wait another day to clear its second-to-last vote in the state Legislature, after a House committee postponed a vote on the bill until Tuesday afternoon.

The Kanawha County school board has approved policy changes meant to protect prospective and current lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees from discrimination.

On Monday evening, August 18 the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) won another victory on the path to civil equality for LGBT residents.

West Palm Beach officials have always led the way in terms of LGBT rights in the county and state. Their latest LGBT rights initiative: strengthening their Equal Opportunity Ordinance.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - West Virginia lawmakers are again promoting a bill to prohibit employers and landlords from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia is updating its tax forms to reflect court rulings overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

An ordinance that would establish nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, got support this week from some heavy hitters, including the White House and high tech giant Apple.

As Democrats prepare for Saturday’s New Hampshire debate, the party’s left wing appears dissatisfied with the process. Grumblings from liberal activists posted on various social media outlets are not hard to find. The central theme of the left’s frustration is aimed at party insiders seeking to suppress a dialogue among Democratic Presidential contenders.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook's name is on a new bill against gay discrimination in his native Alabama.

Tallahassee – The Florida Competitive Workforce Act – Representative Holly Raschein (R- Key Largo) and Democratic Whip Senator Joseph Abruzzo (D- Boynton Beach) – has been filed in the Florida House and Senate. The bill aims to prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in employment, housing and public accommodations.

If you didn’t think South Florida was gay-friendly, this may change your mind.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Barack Obama, who established his bona fides as a gay and lesbian rights champion when he endorsed same-sex marriage, has steadily extended his administration’s advocacy to the smallest and least accepted band of the LGBT rainbow: transgender Americans.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A woman who said South Carolina officials refused to let her use her wife’s family name on her driver’s license has filed a federal lawsuit, another in a string of recent cases challenging the state’s same-sex marriage ban.