LGBT global news 24-7

Home » Content about Tennessee

Content about Tennessee

May 5, 2012
Gay student profile in high school yearbook outrages community

Pro-gay article outrages small Tennessee community, with a school board member calling for sacking and police investigation

A Tennessee high school journalism teacher has outraged the community after publishing a pro-gay article of a graduating student in the yearbook.

The article called ‘It’s OK to be Gay’, written by an anonymous student staff writer of Lenoir City High School, profiles the experiences of American gay student Zac Mitchell.

May 2, 2012
Missouri Republican speaks out against 'Don't Say Gay' bill and comes out as gay

Rep. Zach Wyatt calls proposed legislation 'horrible' amd says 'I will not lie to myself anymore about my own sexuality'

Rep. Zach Wyatt went one step further than speaking out against Missouri's proposed 'Don't Say Gay' bill in a speech before his colleagues this week - he came out as gay himself.

'I'm not the first or the last Republican to come out,' Wyatt said. 'I've just gotten tired of the bigotry being shown from both sides of the aisle on gay issues. Being gay has never been a Republican or Democratic issue and it should never be.'

April 16, 2012
New laws could stop trans Americans from voting in election

Large numbers of transgender people might not be able to vote in November

Strict new voter ID laws may leave large numbers of transgender people unable to vote in the US general election this November.

A study published by the Williams Institute suggests transgender people will run into problems when presenting identification that no longer accurately reflects their gender, appearance or both.

March 14, 2012
Tennessee's 'Don't Say Gay' bill is stalled

Gov. Bill Haslam says bill 'not helpful' and 'not needed'

The so-called 'Don’t Say Gay' being considered by lawmakers in Tennessee has been stalled in the state legislature and may be dead for the rest of the current session.

The bill seeks to ban in educators from initiating any discussion about homosexuality in schools before the eighth grade.

Tennessee's Republican governor had already made clear his desire for the bill to go away.

March 3, 2012
Principal resigns after accusations of anti-gay remarks

High school principal resigns after allegedly making anti-gay statements

A high school principal resigned after accusations she announced gay students were 'not on God’s path' and are 'going to a bad place.'

February 14, 2012
Mike’s desperate plea for Valentine’s Day

Mike from Liverpool wants nothing more than to be with his American boyfriend

It's Valentine's Day and we're feeling very romantic here at Gay Star News, but Mike’s story put a bit of a damper on our big love fest.

UK citizen Mike Roach has been together with his US boyfriend for two years.

But the 20-year-old from Liverpool was recently denied a tourist visa to visit his partner in Tennessee after his entitlement to a visa waiver expired.

If Mike had been in a straight relationship with an American citizen, he may have had other options.

February 6, 2012
Meet the HomoLAB podcast team

GSN is partnering up with three supercool DJs to bring you the HomoLAB gay news and culture podcast each week

We always dreamed of having a podcast when we were planning Gay Star News but thought it would be months and months before we could deliver one.

Then the guys from HomoLAB started chatting to us and suggested we worked together. So Gay Star News is now proud to be bringing you the HomoLAB podcast each week.

January 24, 2012
Bullied gay teen suicide after cry for help

A gay teenager from Tennessee has hanged himself after being bullied at school.

A 14 year old in Tennessee, US, has become the latest gay teenager to commit suicide after a year of constant bullying at school.

Phillip Parker hanged himself in his foster parents’ bathroom in Gordonsville, leaving a note in a trash can reading 'please help me mom', family members told US news channel WSMV.

'He kept telling me he had a rock on his chest,' Ruby Harris, Phillip's grandmother, told the station.

December 28, 2011
Teen suicide sparks local bullying action

Ashland City organising against gay bullying after Jacob Rogers shot himself

Incensed residents of a town in Tennessee have called for a review of anti-gay bullying policies following the suicide of a local teenager.

Openly gay 18-year-old Jacob Rogers shot himself on 7 December.
Authorities have claimed that there was no mention of school bullying in the letters he wrote before his suicide.

But since his death a friend has revealed that Rogers was subjected to persistent name-calling at Cheatham County Central High School in Ashland City, Tennessee.