A child is more likely to be molested at church than in a transgender-friendly bathroom. As the transgender bathroom hysteria rages across the nation, it is important to remember where the real danger is for children. And despite the hysteria, a church is much more dangerous for a child than a public bathroom.

Between 2012 and 2018, 14 states and Washington, D.C., passed laws prohibiting “conversion therapy” for minors. Deep-blue New York was not among them. That finally changed this month when the State Legislature voted overwhelmingly to bar mental health professionals from working to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. As jurisdictions across the country began solidifying protections for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, conversion therapy became part of the public discourse.

A military couple reenacted the classic WW II kiss between a sailor and a nurse after a seven-month deployment. On Dec. 21, sailor Bryan Woodington, 33, stepped off the USS The Sullivans at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla., eager to greet Kenneth, his husband of one year. According to News 4 Jax, Bryan was one of 300 sailors returning to their families after seven months in the Persian Gulf and Europe.

She’s transfixing! Miss Spain, Angela Ponce, the first openly transgender contestant in the 66-year history of the Miss Universe pageant, is getting rave reviews for her bikini body, runway glamour and message of inclusion. “I always say: Having a vagina didn’t transform me into a woman,” the post-op trans gal told reporters as the pageant got underway last week in Bangkok, Thailand.

Pope Francis is “concerned” about what he describes as the “serious issue” of homosexuality, saying in an interview published on Saturday that being gay is a “fashion” to which the clergy is susceptible. “The issue of homosexuality is a very serious issue that must be adequately discerned from the beginning with the candidates,” the pontiff said with regards to would-be priests. “In our societies it even seems that homosexuality is fashionable and that mentality, in some way...

Leaders of a New Jersey university removed Chick-fil-A as an option for a new restaurant on campus, citing the chain’s perceived position on LGBTQ issues. Rider University President Gregory G. Dell’Omo and Leanna Fenneberg, its vice president for student affairs, released a letter on Friday addressing the university’s decision to eliminate the Georgia-based franchise as a new dining option.

A transgender woman who died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after being held in a privately operated detention center was likely physically abused there, according an autopsy report released Monday, and died after several days of severe, untreated dehydration.

University students who are Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) are at higher risk of self-harm and attempting suicide than their heterosexual counterparts, finds new research. The study also shows that low self-esteem may explain the increased risk of self-harm in LGB students. Low self-esteem may result in LGB students who have faced discrimination or have struggled to accept or share their sexuality with others.

An Episcopal Church bishop in Albany, New York, has issued a directive banning same-sex marriage in his diocese, claiming that the church has been “hijacked by the ‘Gay Rights Agenda,' which is very well organized, very strategic, very well financed and very powerful.”

Thousands of Canadians are pressing the federal government to ban "conversion therapy," the controversial practice of counselling LGBT youth to become straight. An online petition that will be presented in the House of Commons, signed by more than 2,500 people so far, urges the Liberals to outlaw the act of coercing or counselling minors to change their sexual orientation or gender identity, and to prohibit taking minors outside the country for that purpose.

Homosexual men are being tortured with electric shocks and beaten to death in concentration camps in Chechnya. This is the first concentration camp for homosexuals since Hitler's camps in 1930s. Reports have emerged that 100 gay men were detained and three killed in these camps last week. Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian politics and social affairs, said that several camps have been set up in Chechnya where gay men have been forced to promise to leave the republic.

Tokyo, and Japan in general, has been making major strides in making the city a more LGBT-inclusive place with various programs including housing, government programs, and even marriage in certain districts. Now, the city is hoping that the city will be free of LGBT discrimination by the 2020 Olympics with a new ordinance. The city’s government introduced the piece of legislation on September 19 that includes measures to end discrimination.

The Supreme Court on Thursday decriminalised homosexuality with a prayer to the LGBTQ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community to forgive history for their “brutal” suppression. A five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra unanimously held that criminalisation of private consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is clearly unconstitutional.

No asylum for 18-year-old boy from Afghanisatan because clothing or behaviour "doesn't hint you could be homosexual". One more time, the Austrian Federal Office for Aliens and Asylum (BFA) releases a very disturbing statement regarding LGBT refugees. As Viennese weekly Falter reveals in its current issue, does not believe a young refugee from Afghanistan that he is gay – because he is not gay enough.

Over 20,000 people have signed petitions to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. One of the two petitions was started by Young-Labour and Young-Greens and has amassed 15,448 signatures. The second petition, created by charity InsideOUT on behalf of the LGBT community around the Rodney area, received 5,157 signatures.

Costa Rica's Supreme Court has ruled that the country's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The court ruling gives the country's legislators a time limit of 18 months to change the current law. The president welcomed the ruling, saying he wants to guarantee "no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation". However many lawmakers are evangelicals who strongly oppose gay marriage.

A record number of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are standing in elections for public office in the United States, a non-profit group that supports them said on Tuesday. The Victory Institute said gay and trans people were still under-represented in political life, but it was aware of more than 400 LGBT candidates so far in 2018 – a higher number than ever before.

Thousands of teens will leave the familiar life of high school and family next month to head off to college. But 18-year-old Seth Owen separated from his family months ago has been living on his own because he is gay and his religious beliefs didn't agree with his parents. Owen said he too is college bound, and he's determined to become successful with or without anyone's acceptance of his lifestyle. Owen is optimistic about the future and ready for new experiences.

A St. Louis County senior community has denied housing to a married lesbian couple who have been together for nearly four decades because of the couple’s sexual orientation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Mary Walsh, 72, and Bev Nance, 68, both of Shrewsbury, say the Friendship Village senior living community, which has locations in Sunset Hills and Chesterfield, denied occupancy to them to live at the Sunset Hills community...

A U.S. federal judge has ruled it unconstitutional to prohibit transgenders in Puerto Rico from modifying their birth certificates according to their gender identities. The LGBTI community won the longstanding legal battle July 16 after U.S. District Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo overruled a policy from the government of Puerto Rico.