Report: Last News

proliferation of anti-LGBTQ laws in various states that are seeking to roll back various freedoms and legal protections against discrimination.The UN National Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which is required to review the human rights records of countries that approved the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, expressed concerns over a slew of anti-LGBTQ laws at the state level, writing in its conclusion that such statutes “severely restrict the rights of persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”While the UNHRC is supposed to review the human rights records of signatories to the ICCPR every four years, the U.S.

report, released last month, provides an estimate of the number and percent of the U.S. LGBTQ adult population, based on data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a network of health-related telephone surveys that inquire about Americans’ health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.Based on the BRFSS data, the Williams Institute estimates that approximately 5.6% of the U.S.

An overlooked Pentagon report issued last year by the Joint Chiefs of Staff has debunked decades-old claims that integrating out LGBTQ soldiers into the ranks of the U.S. Armed Forces would harm military readiness and unit cohesion.The 2021 report, issued 10 years after the repeal of the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy prohibiting lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from acknowledging their sexual orientation, examined the military’s response to out LGB service members during the period following repeal.

Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) just prior to the start of LGBTQ+ History Month, would create a commission to study the creation of such a museum and establish it within the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex.Both measures are required to be signed into law to create a new Smithsonian Museum.The first bill creates an eight-member commission — consisting of individuals with expertise in museum planning or LGBTQ+ research and culture — to look into the viability of establishing a national LGBTQ+ museum.The commission would be tasked with reporting recommendations for a plan of action to establish a National Museum of American LGBTQ+ History and Culture; developing a fundraising plan to support operations and maintenance; obtaining an independent review of the fundraising plan; reporting on the availability and cost of acquiring collections for the museum; identifying possible locations for the facility; and submitting a legislative plan of action to establish and construct the museum to Congress.The commission’s study would have to be completed, and all materials submitted to Congress, within 18 months of its start.The second bill, which could only be acted upon after the commission’s findings are submitted, would formally create the museum within the Smithsonian Institution, which has previously hosted queer events at its facilities.Pocan’s bill is currently being co-sponsored by all other eight out LGBTQ members of Congress, as well as 50 other House members. “As our community faces unprecedented attacks and attempts to erase our history, we must preserve and protect our stories for future generations,” Pocan said in a statement.