The Pinellas County Commission extended legal protections for transgender individuals at its Tuesday night meeting. In a 6-to-1 vote, the commission approved certain gender identity protections, which include replacing the word “sex” with the word “gender” in the county’s human rights law. This offers the transgender community the same protections afforded those on the basis of race, sexual orientation and disability status, and provides them with more legal protections if they are fired or denied housing because they are transgender.
[jump]The Floridian teen lesbian accused of having sex with her underage girlfriend has been sent to jail and will stay there at least until her arraignment next month. A judge ordered that 19-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt be held without bond after she allegedly violated the terms of her pre-trial release by remaining in touch with her 14-year-old girlfriend. The couple allegedly had sex as recently as last month and have exchanged more than 20,000 text messages since Hunt’s February arrest.
After being lauded following last week’s World Championships for openly defying Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law with a kiss on the podium, two gold medal-winning Russian athletes now deny they were protesting their country’s new controversial anti-LGBT legislation. Kseniya Ryzhova and Yulia Gushchina, part of the Russian quartet who won the women’s 4x400m relay, said that rather than a symbol of defiance, their kiss was just an emotional celebration of victory.