Quickies: Xena Gay in Reboot, Anti-LGBT State Laws, First Day of Spring

• Xena Comes Out in New Reboot – Screenwriter and executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach revealed on Tumblr that the new reboot set to launch later this year will explore the romantic relationship between Xena and long time companion Gabrielle.
• “White House Appoints First Transgender Person As Primary LGBT Liaison” – “President Barack Obama has appointed Raffi Freedman-Gurspan as the White House’s primary LGBT liaison, making her the first transgender person in the role, White House officials told BuzzFeed News on Monday.”
• NFL Threatens Boycott if GA Passes Anti-LGBT Bill – Georgia House Bill 757 would decriminalize discrimination based on “sincerely held religious belief.” The NFL released a statement implying that such laws would negatively affect a city’s chances of hosting a Super Bowl.
• Charlotte’s LGBT Anti-Discrimination Law Under Attack – The city of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed an ordinance expanding protections for LGBTs and ensuring that trans people would have access to gender appropriate facilities. NC House Speaker Tim Moore is pushing for a special legislative session to repeal parts of the ordinance.
• Behind the Scenes of the Clinton Team’s Response to Her HIV/AIDS Gaffe – The LA Times discusses the Clinton team’s response to her Reagan/AIDS gaffe and how it has largely succeeded in patching things up with her LGBT supporters.
• Coach Resigns, Staff Suspended, Following Homophobic Assault – [CW Sexual Assault] The head coach has resigned and the coaching staff has been suspended in a high school outside of Philadelphia, PA, following accusations that upperclassmen attacking freshmen in a hazing ritual that included sexual assault. Some of the students involved are being charged with assault and unlawful restraint.
• EU Report Assesses LGBT Rights Across Member States – The report found that homosexuality is still seen as a disease in many member states and highlighted steps needed to make schools safer for LGBT people.
• “Norway to allow gender change without medical intervention” – “Norway’s healthcare ministry on Friday proposed allowing people to legally change their gender without the need for any surgery, hormone treatment or sterilisation, a move hailed by Amnesty International.”
• French Doctors Break Law to Provide IVF for Lesbian Couples – “Some 130 doctors in France admitted to having helped same-sex couples conceive children in protest of local laws which ban same-sex couples from doing so… Although same-sex marriage has been legal in France since 2013, same-sex couples are prohibited from accessing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or medically assisted procreation in the country which is only available only to heterosexual couples. Surrogacy is illegal under any circumstances.”
• “The Vernal Equinox Isn’t What You Think It is” – Check out this short video on the astronomy of the equinoxes.
• “Fauns and Satyrs and the Rites of Spring” – If you live in the norther hemisphere, then yesterday was the first day of spring. Check otu this gallery of fauns and satyrs, classical heralds of spring.

Featured image: Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor in Xena, via Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock