LGBTQ rights go 2-1 in Virginia state legislature
The Virginia state legislature is one of many battlegrounds for LGBTQ rights, as in the last week alone, two progressive victories and one setback occurred in the capitol building in Richmond.

First, on Thursday, Senate Democrats defeated two bills targeting Trans students, one restricting their participation in school sports, and another that required officials to notify parents if their child identifies as Trans.

"As we approach the end of a hard-fought legislative session that saw two anti-Trans bills pass the floor of the House of Delegates, all bills targeting Trans and Nonbinary youth are official dead for the 2023 legislative session here in Virginia," said Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia.

The next day, Republicans in the House of Delegates rejected a proposal to let voters decide through a referendum whether to amend the state constitution by removing language that prohibits same-sex marriage. The panel voted 4-1 along party lines.

"It's time to let the voters take action on this amendment — they and we have earned that right," said Democratic Sen. Sam Ebbin, one of the resolution's sponsors.

Same-sex marriage was banned in Virginia via constitutional amendment in 2006.

Christian college cancels a capella performance over one member's "lifestyle"
In Florida on Saturday, Pensacola Christian College announced that it had canceled the performance of a capella group The King's Singers, over what it called concerns about one of its members' "lifestyles." The college later confirmed over Twitter that the cancelation was because "one of the artists openly maintained a lifestyle that contradicts Scripture."

"It has become clear to us, from a flood of correspondence from students and members of the public, that these concerns related to the sexuality of members of our group," the performers said in a statement.

Music, they said, should bring people together regardless of religious beliefs:

"This is the first time that anything other than bad weather, the pandemic, or war has caused a concert cancellation in our 55-year history. We hope that any conversations that follow might encourage a greater sense of love, acceptance, and inclusion."

The school insisted, still, that the musicians were treated with respect.