Gay rights Coverage

'Making history': Gay couple first to give blood after rules change

The new guidance, issued in May 2023, will now ask potential donors to answer the same set of questions assessing their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The criteria will now focus on sexual contact associated with a higher risk of disease transmission. Those who have engaged in certain types of sexual activity with a new partner within the last three months would not be allowed to donate until a later date.

Paulina Aguilar, CNN

Fact check: Can gay Americans get 'married in the morning' and 'thrown out of a restaurant' in the afternoon?'

Kick-starting the celebrations for Pride month, President Joe Biden said: "When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, something is still very wrong in America,"

Grace Abels and Nuria Diaz Munoz, PolitiFact reporters

NBC Special Report: Supreme Court hands down 2 major decisions

NBC News provides a Special Report as the Supreme Court hands down its two final decisions of the term. One decision involves President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, and the other involves gay rights and free speech.

Queeramid stands at the center of Chapel Hill's Pride Month festivities

The #queeramid is a 13-foot-tall wooden pyramid that will stand at 140 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill through the end of June.

Chapel Hill's queeramid stands at the center of town's Pride Month celebrations

The #queeramid is a 13-foot-tall wooden pyramid that will stand at 140 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill through the end of June.

Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports+ executive producer

NC bills targeting LGBTQ kids latest in national culture war

North Carolina House Bill 43, filed this week, would outlaw puberty blockers, hormone therapy and other "gender-affirming" medical treatment for transgender minors, even with parental consent.

Laura Leslie, WRAL capitol bureau chief

Tillis explains changing position on same sex marriage as historic bill passes

Thom Tillis feels the Respect for Marriage Act would preserve the status quo and provide security to those in same sex and interracial marriages while preserving the right of religious organizations not to offer or sanction such unions.

NC's Tillis says Respect for Marriage Act preserves status quo, is 'a good compromise'

The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, called the Respect for Marriage Act, in a landmark bipartisan vote.

By Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett, CNN; WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie

Five years later, Democratic lawmakers still fighting to erase HB2, promote LGBT rights

Democratic House and Senate lawmakers introduced a package of bills Tuesday they say will extend greater dignity and equality to LGBT people across North Carolina.

Sloane Heffernan, WRAL anchor/reporter

Durham expands protection for LGBTQ community

Durham joined a growing list of cities passing a measure like this.

Chapel Hill Town Council votes to pass ordinance broadly protecting LGBTQ community from discrimination.

The ruling comes in the same week that Hillsborough and Carrboro passed similar ordinances.

Joe Biden NC campaign hosts virtual event for National Coming Out Day

Activist Dustin Lance Black and actress Anjelika Washington joined the event, along with local candidates and lawmakers.

Couple threatened for flying pride flag at their home

A Wisconsin couple was threatened for flying a rainbow flag in their yard to show support for the LGBTQ community.

The pandemic is threatening to close the iconic LGBTQ landmark Stonewall Inn for good

Faced with mounting bills and uncertainty around when it can reopen, the Stonewall Inn has started an online fundraiser to ensure the iconic LGBTQ landmark won't close its doors for good.

Top Trump campaign aide pushed anti-gay positions, said legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to bestiality and pedophilia

A top adviser and lawyer for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign has a history of pushing anti-gay positions, including linking the legalization of same-sex marriage to bestiality and pedophilia.

By Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN

Navy ship named for Harvey Milk, slain gay rights leader, takes shape

Harvey Milk enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1951 and worked as a diving instructor in San Diego.

Johnny Diaz, New York Times

He gave thanks for his 2 dads. His teacher condemned gay couples.

A substitute teacher at a Utah public school asked students in a fifth-grade class what they were thankful for before they left for Thanksgiving break.

Neil Vigdor, New York Times

Can someone be fired for being gay? The Supreme Court will decide

ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court has delivered a remarkable series of victories to the gay rights movement over the last two decades, culminating in a ruling that established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. But in more than half the states, someone can still be fired for being gay.

Adam Liptak, New York Times

Student government at Duke University rejects Young Life, citing its LGBTQ policy

Duke University won't recognize the Young Life Christian group as a student organization because of its LGBTQ beliefs, the Duke Chronicle reports.

Justices to Weigh Wider View of Sex Bias Law

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced Monday that it would decide whether the Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees protections from workplace discrimination to gay and transgender people in three cases expected to provide the first indication of how the court’s new conservative majority will approach LGBT rights.

Adam Liptak, New York Times