GLAAD Link: Today's Top LGBT News

By 1987, almost 10,000 New Yorkers had died of AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The vast majority of them were gay men, already ostracized by society, and despite the agony of the epidemic, ignored by all the power centers of society; the government, big business, and most certainly the Catholic Church. The national response veered between sheer panic and the idea of internment camps for the infected. A schoolyard taunt at the time – I remember hearing it quite well – was that "gay" was an acronym that stood for "got AIDS yet?"

Community groups are rallying for answers after a transgender woman was found shot and killed on the city’s West Side earlier this week.

Paige Clay, 23, a male-to-female transgender person, was found shot and killed Monday morning. Her body was found in an alley behind the 4500 block of West Jackson Boulevard in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, according to Harrison District police Lt. John Andrews.

In tonight’s exclusive series, “Transgender Breakthrough,” Metro Weekly reports:

An employer who discriminates against an employee or applicant on the basis of the person’s gender identity is violating the prohibition on sex discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to an opinion issued on April 20 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The opinion, experts say, could dramatically alter the legal landscape for transgender workers across the nation.