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The Obama administration is considering whether North Carolina’s new law on gay and transgender rights makes the state ineligible for billions of dollars in federal aid for schools, highways and housing, officials said Friday. Cutting off any federal money — or even simply threatening to do so — would put major new pressure on North Carolina to repeal the law, which eliminated local protections for gay and transgender people and restricted which bathrooms transgender people can use. A loss of federal money could send the state into a budget crisis and jeopardize services that are central to daily life. Although...

The chief executive of Pepsi, a company with roots in North Carolina, has written to Governor Pat McCrory to ask him to repeal a new law preventing specific anti-discrimination rules for LGBT people over public accommodations and restroom use. In a letter hand delivered to McCrory on Friday, PepsiCo head Indra Nooyi called the law inconsistent with how her company treats its employees. Nooyi also said the law was undermining efforts to advance North Carolina’s interests, and she said she hoped McCrory would consider repealing the law when the state legislature reconvenes later this month.

Best-selling author Fay Weldon has caused controversy after suggesting that men are being driven to sex change because 'women have it better than men'. The 84-year-old, who lives in Dorset, also said anorexia was for 'girls who don`t want to grow up' and 'have periods', claiming that for many 'sex is disgusting'. It comes after fellow writer Ian McEwan sparked a row on Thursday after warning of a 'troubling' wave of political correctness when discussing the rights of transgender people.

The CEO of PepsiCo, Inc., a company with roots in North Carolina, has written Gov. Pat McCrory, asking him to repeal the new law preventing specific anti-discrimination rules for LGBT people for public accommodations and restroom use. In a letter hand delivered to McCrory on Friday, PepsiCo head Indra Nooyi called the law inconsistent with how her company treats its employees. …

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump may want to avoid West Hollywood when he campaigns in California ahead of the state's potentially decisive June 7 primary. Lindsey Horvath, the mayor of West Hollywood, Calif., which is located in the heart of Los Angeles County and home to a sizable population of gay men, penned a letter to Trump this week explaining that he is unwelcome in her city. "With the primary making its way to California, as West Hollywood's Mayor, I want to make very clear that your campaign of violence and intimidation is not welcome in our City," she wrote...

If you needed proof that America has lost it corporate mind, here are 5 compelling examples. 1. In New York City, Cooper Union College has decided to remove all “gender markings” from its bathrooms. As reported by The Guardian, “Last fall, the oldest building on the Cooper Union campus underwent a sudden renovation. A group of students, agitating for their transgender classmates, stripped the words ‘men’ and ‘women’ off the doors of the Foundation Building’s restrooms.” But rather than discipline the unruly students, “the Cooper Union administration this month moved to remove the gender designations from all the bathrooms on...

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed legislation he said would legalize discrimination of the LGBT community. The Democratic governor made the announcement Wednesday during a radio appearance on WTOP. The measure would prohibit the state from punishing religious groups that refuse services related to gay marriages. Republican supporters said it would protect people from expressing their religious beliefs. …

Germany may not grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples, but its laws do protect them against discrimination. A man has been slapped with a steep fine by a Cologne court after he refused to rent a villa to a same-sex couple. The landlord must pay €3,400 — or €1,700 per person — in compensation to a couple who he refused to let rent his villa, a regional court said on Tuesday. The man regularly rented out his personal villa to newlyweds to earn a bit more cash, but when he learned that the couple in question were gay, he...

The Mexican Soccer Federation launched a campaign Tuesday urging fans to refrain from anti-gay chants that drew fines from FIFA earlier this year. Called “Embraced by Soccer,” the campaign consists of a couple of 30-second videos in which popular stars including forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, captain and defender Rafael Marquez and midfielder Andres Guardado ask fans not to engage in discriminatory behavior. Announced hours before Mexico hosted Canada in a 2018 World Cup qualifier for the CONCACAF region, the campaign did not deter fans at the capital’s Azteca Stadium from making the chants during the nighttime match. The videos were...

mayor of San Francisco has banned all publicly-funded city employees from traveling to North Carolina. The NFL is threatening to block Atlanta, Georgia from hosting a future Super Bowl. The NBA is threatening to relocate next year’s All Star game from Charlotte, North Carolina to another city. Corporate giants like American Airlines and Hollywood giants like Disney are threatening action against Georgia and North Carolina. Why? It is because North Carolina has passed a bill requiring people to use the public bathroom or locker room that corresponds to their birth certificate gender and because Georgia has enacted legislation (yet to...

Gov. Nathan Deal said he will veto the “religious liberty” bill that triggered a wave of criticism from gay rights groups and business leaders and presented him with one of the most consequential challenges he’s faced since his election to Georgia’s top office. The measure “doesn’t reflect the character of our state or the character of its people,” the governor said Monday in prepared remarks. He said state legislators should leave freedom of religion and freedom of speech to the U.S. Constitution.

5th UPDATE, 6:25 PM: Now Amblin Partners has joined the anti-Georgia chorus over the state’s pending religious liberty legislation. “Amblin Partners is committed to diversity and inclusion for all,” the company led by Steven Spielberg. “We would be disappointed to see our pipeline of production end at the Georgia border because of this legislation. While we are aware that Governor Deal has not yet made a decision, we stand with our industry colleagues in strongly urging him to veto this bill.”

Corporations expressed disappointment Thursday and the NCAA vowed to monitor what North Carolina does next now that the state has banned any local government measures protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. American Airlines, which operates its second-largest hub in Charlotte; IBM and Biogen, which have facilities in the state’s Research Triangle; and payments processor PayPal, which had announced plans to hire 400 people in Charlotte only last week, were among major employers condemning the new law. The legislature called a special session Wednesday to void a Charlotte ordinance that would have enabled transgender...

You might think that this is grotesque. I certainly think it is grotesque. But should we be so judgemental about the unorthodox connubial arrangements of Anna and Lucy Decinque, 31-year-old identical twins who are sharing a bed with their 32-year-old electrical mechanic boyfriend Ben Byrne? The trio have lived together for the last four years in Perth, Western Australia, with the girls’ mother. The girls are inseparable, so much so that they have spent A$240,000 on various cosmetic improvements to look even more alike. They imitate each other and share everything. Even their boyfriend. When Anna and Lucy appeared on...

Religious groups in Taiwan are calling for a boycott of McDonald’s after the fast food giant premiered a commercial they say promotes “gay issues." The minute-and-a-half ad features a boy coming out to his father by writing, “I like boys” on a McCafe coffee cup and sliding it across the table.

Queen Elizabeth II opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage in England because of her deeply held Christian values, a close friend has reportedly told a London-based newspaper. The UK Daily Mail published a story Sunday which claimed that the queen, who is also head of the Church of England, secretly opposed gay marriage but was in favor of civil partnerships. The unnamed "friend" said the monarch was frustrated by the fact that she could only "advise and warn" on the issue. "It was the 'marriage' thing that she thought was wrong, because marriage ought to be sacrosanct between a man...

sconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley on Monday apologized for anti-gay opinion pieces she wrote as a college student 24 years ago, saying she is embarrassed by the content and tone and that they do not reflect her worldview or current work as a judge. The liberal group One Wisconsin Now revealed one column and two letters to the editor that Bradley wrote in February and November 1992 when she was a student at Marquette University. They were published in the Marquette Tribune, the student newspaper. Bradley faces state Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg in the April 5 election for...

California’s sodomite assemblyman Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley) has introduced a bill that would limit traveling of state employees to states that recognize the protections of the First Amendment and have backed that up with religious liberty laws to protect Americans who disagree with the criminal behavior of sodomites. Along with Assembly Bill 1887, which was introduced by Low in mid-February, he has also introduced a “package” of bills at punishing state employees that would travel on official business to states that protect religious liberty. “I’m proud to be a voice for the LGBT community throughout the state and in the...

Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard shocked conservatives Tuesday when he vetoed legislation that would have prohibited students in South Dakota public schools from using opposite-sex restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities. The decision is a boon for transgender advocates who lobbied the governor to reject the bill, arguing it was discriminatory and would have harmed the emotional well-being of transgender students. Proponents of the legislation contended it’s inappropriate to have adolescent boys and girls showering and changing in the same room. “Do you feel it appropriate for a 13-year-old girl to be exposed to the anatomy of a boy? Or for...

The Virginia House of Delegates passed a measure Tuesday that would prohibit the state from taking action against businesses that refuse services to same-sex couples or people who engage in extra-marital sex. The House passed the controversial bill in a 56-41 vote, with supporters saying the legislation would protect religious rights of business owners from state-led lawsuits or the loss of state grants and contracts for simply refusing service to gay couples. ...