Houston - After a drawn-out showdown between Houston's popular lesbian mayor and a coalition of conservative pastors, voters in the nation's fourth-largest city will soon decide whether to establish nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people.

(WM) A South Dakota Senate committee unanimously rejected a bill on Feb. 5 that would have banned transgender people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates.

(WB) The State Department has launched a fund that seeks to bolster LGBT rights around the world.

The U.S. Department of State is currently vetting candidates to become a special envoy to advocate for the rights of LGBT people overseas, a State Department official told the Boston Globe today (Thursday, Feb. 5). The official told the newspaper the person appointed to the position will be chosen from among openly LGBT current State Department officers, and the department will announce its choice by the end of February.

(WB) The State Department on Wednesday is expected to issue the first U.S. passport with an “X” gender marker.

With same-sex marriage now legal nationwide, lawmakers in numerous states are preparing for a new round of battles in 2016 over whether to grant discrimination protections to LGBT people or religious exemptions to nonprofits and businesses that object to gay marriage.

On one side, you’ve got the early January awesomeness that is Florida’s same-sex marriage allowances or, nationally, Medicare’s not excluding trans-specific healthcare anymore.

An important oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court this month went largely overlooked because of the nation’s nearly complete fixation on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

(WB) Facing criticism from LGBT rights advocates and mental health experts, Texas officials reversed policy Tuesday enacted at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott allowing social workers to turn away people from being LGBT or having a disability, according to the Texas Tribune.

DENVER — The growing conflict between religious groups and gay-rights advocates over punishments in discrimination cases is playing out in Colorado, with a Democrat-led committing rejecting Republican proposals aimed at protecting individuals and organizations from complaints.

There was no shortage of dramatic and consequential events to consider as the top stories for the LGBT community in 2022, and most of those events threaten to spill over into 2023.

The passing of an appropriations bill turned into a debate on advocacy during Fort Lauderdale’s City Commission meeting Tuesday evening.

The frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination today promised "forward motion" on gay and lesbian equality if he is elected.

(WB) A wedding photographer and a group of several Christian institutions filed two different lawsuits against Virginia officials Monday over a new law that bans discrimination against the LGBT community. 

A Ugandan court on Friday invalidated an anti-gay bill signed into law earlier this year, saying the measure is illegal because it was passed during a parliamentary session that lacked a quorum.

ILGA-Europe has just released its Europe Rainbow Map, which uses percentages to compare countries’ LGBT rights situations.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian lawmakers have approved a bill that bans discrimination of gays, key legislation intended to help pave the way for visa-free travel between Ukraine and the European Union.

A dozen U.N. agencies have issued an unprecedented joint call for countries to end violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Adam Romero, an Arnold D. Kassoy Scholar of Law and Senior Counsel at UCLA’s Williams Institute, told the State Department on July 8 that “U.S. is failing to comply with international human rights standards in relation to LGBT people.”

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The president of the University of New Hampshire said Wednesday he is troubled and offended by many parts of a "bias-free language guide" posted on the school's website, particularly a suggestion that using the word "American" is problematic because it fails to recognize South America.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.S. government says it will begin using the term “sexual rights” in discussions of human rights and global development.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States named its first international envoy for gay rights Monday, tasking a veteran diplomat with leading U.S. efforts to fight violence and discrimination against LGBT individuals overseas.

(WB) Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced the U.S. will “reengage” with the U.N. Human Rights Council.

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) — 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 — Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday signed into law an anti-discrimination measure that earned the support of the Mormon church amid a crowd that brought smiling clergy members together with LGBT activists draped in rainbow flags.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) | LGBT advocates in Utah are more optimistic than ever they can pass a statewide anti-discrimination law this year now that the Mormon church has made a national appeal for such measures.

(WM) The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to offer transgender veterans gender confirmation surgery, Secretary Denis McDonough announced at a Pride Month event in Orlando June 19.

It’s another victory for LGBT people after the North Palm Beach Village Council voted to enact the Village’s Civil Rights Ordinance, which goes into effect immediately.