Tag: Congress

A funding request by US President Donald Trump for an additional $300 million to fight HIV/AIDS in 2020 has been given the seal of approval by Congress. In a bipartisan agreement just before Christmas, House and Senate appropriation bill amenders agreed to keep the government running for 2020 and as part of that was the

(stock photo via Depositphotos) A memo currently being circulated among Republican members of Congress asks the lawmakers to “contact Amazon with concerns” regarding “censorship” after the online retail giant announced it had removed books on the subject of so-called ‘conversion therapy.’ Earlier this month, Instinct reported on Amazon’s removal of all books by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, widely credited as the ‘father of conversion therapy.’ The action by Amazon was the result of months of complaints and an online petition that garnered over...

New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres (image via Facebook) New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres, the first LGBTQ official elected in the Bronx, has announced he will run to represent New York’s 15th Congressional District in 2020. The seat is being vacated by Democrat Rep. José E. Serrano, the longest serving Hispanic congressman in the country, who is retiring because he has Parkinson’s disease. Torres, currently the youngest member of the City Council, would be the first openly gay member of Congress...

Proving that no offense is too great for Republicans to overlook, Mark Foley is apparently thinking about a political comeback. In case you’ve forgotten or were unaware, in the early 2000s, Foley was a high-powered Republican in Congress, having first been elected from his Florida district in 1994. Then he ran into a bit of a problem: the story broke that he liked to hit on underage Congressional pages. Male pages, to be exact. Unfortunately for Foley, he left a huge...

Rumors that former Representative Aaron Schock was getting ready to mount another run for office began swirling earlier this month when a Statement of Organization was filed with the Federal Election Commission for a “Schock for Congress” campaign. Well, you can all stop freaking out because Schock himself has just squashed those rumors… for now. “That’s my committee that’s been in existence for 10 years,” he explained to local Peoria TV station WMBD on Friday. “I’ve simply changed the treasurer position...

The scandal-ridden former Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) appears to be preparing to run for office again. Schock served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 2009 to 2015, when he resigned in disgrace after being accused of misusing campaign and public funds. He was the subject of a congressional ethics investigation and was indicted by a federal grand jury. Federal prosecutors dropped charges earlier this year in exchange for paying $110,000 in restitution and taxes. He has also been photographed making out...

Former Congressman Aaron Schock with Donald Trump (via Instagram)Is former Congressman/current West Hollywood gadabout Aaron Schock planning on running for Congress again soon? Just days ago a Statement of Organization was filed or updated with the Federal Election Commission by Schock for Congress. The date shown is June 7, 2019 and the form indicates it was signed by Schock himself. The office sought is listed as Illinois’ 18th Congressional District and the party? Yep,...

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has just passed the groundbreaking Equality Act, legislation designed to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ Americans. If signed into law, discrimination against queer people would become illegal nationwide. The bill passed with a vote of 236-173 with most Democrats voting in favor. Legislators had sought to pass versions of the bill as early as 1974. At the time, that version included only language prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation....

While many danced to mock Vice President’s return to the state of Ohio, one gay man is preparing to run for a spot in Congress. Rick Neal is currently in the running for the 15th district congressional seat for the state of Ohio. He is the first openly gay man to run for a congressional seat from the state and could become the first openly gay Congressman from Ohio. Having realized that fact, Neal is especially appreciative during this month. While...

An online forum featuring two candidates for California’s 1st District U.S. Congressional seat was rudely interrupted when a hacker broke into the live internet feed. The organization Independent Like the North State organized the forum, which was open to the seven candidates competing for incumbent Doug LaMalfa’s seat; however, only two candidates were actually present. Candidates Lewis Elbinger of the Green Party and David Peterson of the Democrat Party were in the middle of giving their opening remarks when video of...

Out gay Democrat Rufus Gifford has announced he will run for Congress, in a bid to serve Massachusetts’ 3rd congressional district. Gifford, who previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, also worked as Barack Obama's Finance Director in the 2012 presidential re-election. In a video announcement shared to YouTube, he says: “Like so many of you, I woke up a year ago shocked and heartbroken by the election of Donald Trump. “As someone who worked for President Obama for 10 years, helping...

Democrats reintroduced the Equality Act in Congress today that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for LGBTQ people. The bill, if passed, would include protections from discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, jury service, and public education. The bill was first introduced into Congress in 2015, and is reintroduced by sponsored Rep. David Cicilline, and Senators Jeff Merkley, Tammy Baldwin, and Cory Booker, as well...